


Remorse is a Dish Best Served Never

by Smutslug



Series: Remorse [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Abortion, All the non-con stuff happens when Pidge is older., Blood, Child Abuse, Cutting, Electrocution, F/M, Haxus is the biggest asshole ever, Humiliation, M/M, Not for the squeamish, Pidge gets hurt a lot, Psychological Torture, Shit gets better eventually, Shock Collars, Slavery, Suicide Attempt, There will be a rape scene farther out in the story that I will give warnings for in advance., Torture, Unwanted Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-04-29 23:55:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 22
Words: 42,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14484018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smutslug/pseuds/Smutslug
Summary: Haxus survives the scuffle with Pidge and together with Sendak takes over the Castle of Lions. As reward for his efforts, Emperor Zarkon grants him ownership of the Green Paladin. But Haxus' revenge for being humiliated by a little girl does not go exactly as planned.This is a story about having high expectations and figuring out feelings you never thought you could have.





	1. Captured

**Author's Note:**

> This work is quite different than my other as in being as far away from smutty you can get. This is a more serious story and I will be giving warnings when the rather gruesome stuff happens later on.
> 
> I'm also going to say this here right now: There will be no romance between Haxus and Pidge.  
> This is not that kind of story.
> 
> I also want to point out that Haxus in no way or form finds Pidge attractive. He sees her as an enemy and a child and has no interest in doing her apart from getting his revenge, and he is willing to wait until the time it is considered less of an offense. Yes, he is cruel as fuck, but what do you expect from the guy that had nothing against killing a child to complete his mission. He just draws the line with pedophilia.

Haxus let a smile play across his lips.  
It had been easy to convince command that he were to be granted ownership of the green paladin. He had after all been the one to subdue her after her futile attempt at sabotaging their mission.  
However, she had humiliated him, a mere child had had the gall to try to defeat him. That could not stand.  
It had been close, but he had stood the victor in the end.

A small whimper from his feet brought him back to the present, pushing his memories to the back of his mind, focusing on the events before him.  
The girl was on her knees, wrists bound in her lap, a simple cloth gag hindering her from speaking her mind. The gag was a necessity it turned out. If she could she would spew profanities and offending remarks at an impressive speed, to great annoyance to sensitive galra ears. Punishing the girl had only resulted in a higher pitch so for the moment the gag stayed put.

"Lieutenant Haxus." The rumbling voice of the Emperor filled the empty space of the throne room, urging Haxus to step forward, drop to a knee and salute his Emperor.  
"I feel a promotion is in order for your services. And you may keep the Green Paladin as requested. As long as she is kept alive for future use." He knew the Emperor would say yes.  
"Vrepit sa!" Haxus answered with gusto and rise to a stand.  
"Congratulations." Sendak's smug smile was reassuring. Having his previous commander approval, standing proud a few feet to his side, sent a wave of warmth through him. Haxus returned the smile and turned to make his leave, yanking the chain connected to the heavy metal collar around the girls neck, coaxing her into a stand. The girl was moving slowly, obviously in pain, but he didn't care. She would be in a lot more pain if she made a scene in front of the Emperor.

The walk back to the elevator was painfully slow, but there was no need to rush the girl, her short legs could only do so much.  
The girl collapsed on the floor of the elevator with a groan and Haxus was sure she had fainted but she slowly pushed herself back on her knees, breathing strained behind the gag.  
Checking his wrist panel Haxus located his new quarters, a benefit from his new rank as commander. It was considerably larger than his previous. He smirked when he noticed the extra space allocated to his new ‘property’.  
"You are lucky. You will get your own room." Haxus voice was anything but reassuring to the girl and he expected as much. She glared at him. Her eyes were so expressive, it fascinated him how he could see the hate boil inside her through them.  
\-----  
The trip back to Central Command had been long, they couldn't use the teludav so it was only the castle ships own engines that propelled them through space.  
After tossing the blue paladin into one of the healing pods, both Haxus and Sendak had put their full attention on their new conquests. Sendak had retreated into one of the paladins sleeping quarters with the Champion in tow, leaving Haxus alone with the Green Paladin.  
Haxus had spent his time with the girl assessing his dominance by simply torturing her with his shock rod every time she tried to fight him. Her screams of pain had echoed in the cathedral like halls of the castle for the quintants it took them to reach the rest of the fleet.  
By then she had been exhausted and broken enough that she started following his simple commands without too much trouble.  
He admired her tenacity. For such a small frail creature she put up quite the fight.  
But it hadn't been enough.  
She was now his and he had no plans of ever letting her go.  
\-----  
The quarters were quite satisfactory. A large living room, a personal kitchen, a bathroom with both shower and bath and two bedrooms, one of them being being quite small and obviously intended for the girl.  
He pushed her to her knees in the middle of the living room.  
"Stay," he commanded, dropping the chain down next to her. She seemed too exhausted to try anything anyway, slumping down where she knelt.  
He took his time filling the bath and picking out a few towels, laying them on the bench.  
He would have loved to take a bath himself, but he would prefer to have the girl cleaned and locked away before doing so. She was reeking and she had wounds that needed to be tended to, else they would get infected. There was no guarantee that her immune system could handle the germs Central Command might be infested with. And he had no intention of handing her over to the druids anytime soon, even for medical reasons.

"Up." His voice seemed to shake the girl out of her trance and she shakingly forced herself to stand.  
Grabbing her collar he unclasped the chain, letting it spool by her feet, before he led her to the bathroom with a firm grip on her elbow.  
"You will undress and clean yourself. Try anything clever and you will regret it," he said as he removed her cuffs. "I will be watching."  
As he backed out the door she grabbed the cloth gag to remove it, but he closed the door in her face before she could utter a single word.

Out in the living room he picked up his tablet and flicked his way to the security cameras of his quarters. There was several cameras in each room, two in the bathroom, and he could clearly see the girls every move.  
It took her a moment to locate the main camera and she glared at it while doing a hand gesture that was obviously meant to be offending in its direction.  
He scoffed. He admired her fighting spirit but he knew it was only a matter of time before it would be snuffed out.  
He watched with some interest as she slowly stripped her armor off. The way she flinched indicated she had several broken ribs and the way she avoided using her right hand was a sure sign she had sprained her wrist. All things he could either abuse or actually tend to, depending on how he wanted to control her.

When she peeled back her slim fitting bodysuit her injuries became more clear. Large bruises covered her sides, arms and legs, like inky blotches on her pale peach skin. She had no body markings as he could see, similar to what he had heard from the reports on the other humans the Empire had encountered, the Champion included. All in all she looked like a smaller slimmer version of the Champion and the Blue Paladin, apart from the small breasts and slightly rounder hips.  
Haxus remembered the girl protested loudly when he called her a child, but his judgement would still consider her so. She seemed more immature than her comrades as well, though that could be an indicator of her sex more than anything.  
However, if she was a child he would have to postpone some of his plans.

He was no pedophile.

She stepped into the large tub wincing as some of her cuts made contact with the warm water.  
When she started washing herself Haxus felt he had seen enough and put the tablet down. He had other things to prepare and not much time to do it in. And she seemed to behave. For now.  
The small room reserved for her contained nothing but a simple bed and drawers embedded in the frame below it. She would be able to store clothes and personal items there if needed.  
He had no clothes that would fit her so he would have to commission a tailor or request some clothes for galra children.  
He wondered if it was common to use children as soldiers in human culture. It seemed overly excessive and while she had put up quite the fight he doubted all humans acted like her. Or maybe her aggressiveness was a trait that humans grew out of and their military wanted to use them to their full potential while they could. He could only speculate.  
Fetching a medical kit from his new bedroom he sorted out the equipment needed to tend to her wounds. She had several deep cuts, inflicted by his own sword, that had to be closed.

With everything prepared he headed back to the bathroom.  
The girl sat on the bench, a towel wrapped tightly around her body, covering most of her torso and upper thighs. The water of the tub had a pinkish tint and he could see red blotches on the towel draped across her body from where she had dried her wounds. She was still bleeding it seemed.  
Her hair looked wet too, but from the moist towel on the bench next to her she had at least attempted to dry it before he stepped inside.  
"Out." He held the door open for her and she walked out, still glaring at him intensely.  
Out in the living room he steered her to the couch.  
"Behave and I will attend your wounds."  
"I can do it myself."  
"As amusing it would be to watch you try I do not have the time nor the patience. Get on the couch." She scowled at him but did as he said, her small hands clinging to the towel as she climbed into the much to large furniture. He seated himself on his knees on the floor next to her.  
"Take it off."  
"No."  
"I've already seen your body, there is nothing for you to hide." He reached out to grab the fabric, but she scurried away.  
"NO!"  
Fine, if she wanted it the hard way he would do it the hard way.  
He took a firm grasp on the towel and the yank that followed made her lash out.

Everything happened fast.

A flurry of movement and a gleam of silver. He moved his head out of the way just in time as her small fingers grazed by his neck, the small metal shard in her hand slicing through his fur.  
On instinct he backhanded her violently, the resounding crack was all he needed to know he had broken her jaw.  
The shard clattered along the floor as the girl toppled off the couch. Grabbing her by the collar he dragged her across the room, ignoring her pained protests.  
Reaching her room, he simply tossed her through the doorway, before slamming it shut and locking the door.

Fuming he stomped into the bathroom to survey the damage she had caused.  
In the mirror, the sharp thin wound barely leeched blood into his short fur, and what had was already clotted matting his fur. Nothing a bit of biogel wouldn't fix, but still annoying.

Walking back to the living room, Haxus picked up the metal shard and flipped it over in his hand.  
It seemed to be from the castle, a white-ish metal, probably lodged itself in her armor during the battle with Sendak. The room had been littered with debris after all.  
He disposed of it and picked up his tablet again, flicking his way to the cams in her room.  
She was sitting in the corner, the bed sheets wrapped around herself, tears streaming down her face.  
He scowled, annoyed that he now had even more injuries to attend to. Because of her foolishness.

He strode into her room, making himself look as intimidating as possible.  
"Say you are sorry for your transgression and I will consider giving you painkillers," he stated.  
She glared at him with no indication of wanting to speak.  
"What's the matter? Lost your voice," he teased. She had to be in a lot of pain not to run her mouth at him.  
The tears made it even better, and when he smirked, she turned her head away in spite, in a feeble attempt at ignoring him.  
"Pity." He tilted his head in a mock caring gesture before tapping a few buttons on his wrist panel.  
The energy that surged from the collar through the girls body made her cry out in pain, before all her muscles locked up and she toppled over on the floor, stunned. Her limbs frozen in tense positions. She could barely move here eyes.  
"Now you will be a bit more cooperative."

Dragging her back out into the living room, he dumped her on the carpet next to the couch.  
He didn't waste any time and patched up her many cuts and scratches before injecting her broken jaw with a quickset bone mixture, ignoring her tears and whimpers when he made sure the bone was laying straight as the medication started knitting together the bone cells.

While he personally had no experience using these medications on humans, the druids had confirmed they seemed to have an effect on the Champion. The human had experienced broken bones several times during his arena days.  
He finished with placing a tight brace on her sprained wrist.  
With the wounds cleaned and covered he dragged her back into her room, dumping her on the bed roughly.  
The only semblance of pity was him dragging the blanket over her body before leaving her alone behind the locked door.

Now it was his turn to get a much deserved bath and rest.


	2. Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge learns that Haxus' rules are not to be broken.
> 
>  
> 
> Also say hello to Aneera, my little OC. She will not have a large role in my fics, mostly just a background character.

Morning came soon enough and though Haxus would have loved to sleep for many vargas more, he had a job to do.  
Not official work, by all means no. He had gotten the whole movement free as reward, and he intended to use it well.  
His new armor was well fitted, based on the specs of his old. The red, black and gold colors he had dreamt about for deca-phoebs now adorned his chest.  
The armor accented his slim build well and made him look at least a bit more intimidating.  
In his own eyes he looked good.  
More than a few other galra came to mind when he thought about how jealous they would be.  
The ultimate honor.  
Decreed by the Emperor himself.  
He smirked to himself in the mirror.

Walking into her room without knocking had the desired effect and the view of her cowering in the corner of the bed was more than enough to spark that need to see her hurt again.  
He could see her flinch at the sound of him extending his telescopic shock rod. At least she had learned to fear something during their journey.  
"I think we should continue the little training exercise we started on the way here, don't you agree?"  
He didn't let her answer before wacking her across the face with the stick hard enough to make her cry out. He did try to avoid hitting her jaw though.  
"I am going to make this very easy for you." He used the tip of the rod to push her chin up so they could talk face to face. "Do as I say and I will not hurt you."  
"Do you understand?"  
She didn't answer, but from the gritted teeth he could tell she very much wanted to refuse.  
"I take that as a no." He tapped her with the rod, this time with the power on, and she cried out in pain.  
He zapped her a few more times, watching her squirm, trying to push herself further into the corner.  
"I repeat, do you understand?"  
"Y-yes..." her voice cracked slightly.  
"Yes what?" he demanded.  
She looked confused, but he was not in the mood for excuses, so he shocked her again.  
"I don't know! I don't know!" she cried out to make him stop.  
He tsked. Could she really be that stupid?  
Grabbing her chin with his claws he wrenched her jaw to face him again.  
"You will address me as commander, nothing else."  
"I repeat again, do you understand?"  
She sobbed for a few seconds until he raised the rod threateningly again.  
"Yes, commander!" she cried out in panic, raising her arms to pointlessly shield herself.  
"Good." He straightened himself and crossed his arms across his chest.  
"I am going to go through the house rules, and you would do well in listening."  
"You only eat and drink when I say so. Any attempts at disobedience will be met with punishment. You will stick to the areas designated to you. You talk only when spoken to and you will show respect to whoever that is. You will stay in your room until I let you out. If you have any special needs you need attended to I will take them into consideration."  
"Got that?"  
The girl nodded, but she still had that defiant look on her face.  
"Any questions?"  
"I want my clothes."  
"No, you will get new ones later."  
"And until then?" He didn't disagree with her. She could use something for now.  
"I will get you something to wear meanwhile." He said and backed out of the room.

One of his spare nightshirts would have to do.  
He tossed her the shirt and she looked at the dark fabric with a frown.  
"Get dressed."

It barely stayed on her tiny shoulders, but it did cover her entire torso and parts of her thighs. The dark blue fabric a stark contrast to her pale skin and brown hair.  
"Now come." He pointed out of the room and she followed him with hesitance.  
"Tell me, what is your name? I can't recall what the other paladins called you."  
"Why should I tell you?"  
"Because I assume you do not want me to give you a new one." The scowl he got in return was expected.  
The girl seemed to mull it over.  
"Katie Holt," she said eventually.  
"Is Holt your clan name?" he asked curiously.  
"It's my father's family name."  
Haxus hummed, humans had interesting naming structures.  
"You can tell me more about that later."

He led her back into the living room. "What does humans eat? Apart from that horrid food goo." That had been the worst part about the trip back to Central Command. Most of their supplies had diminished when they staked out the Castle of Lions, leaving them with few options food wise after taking over. Just the thought of it made his lips curl.  
"Meat, fish, vegetables, grain, fowl." The girl listed them counting on her fingers. "And dairy."  
"So you are omnivores?"  
"Yeah."  
"Yes what?"  
The girl gritted her teeth again.  
"Yes, commander."  
"Better,” he said smugly. “Now let me see if I can get you something to eat. I have no plans of starving you, no matter how tempting it is." Picking up his pad he flicked his way to the mess halls food order menu.

While one part of him wanted to order the vilest thing on the menu just to mess with her, the other part of him knew it might not be healthy for her. And it would be pointless to have her die of food poisoning the first day in his care.  
He ended up ordering a dish incorporating several of the food groups she mentioned and a dish rich in meat for himself. It had been too long since he tasted solid natural protein.

When the food arrived he pushed the girl in the direction of the small kitchen, making her sit in a tall chair and handing her a spork.  
She stared at the food for a few ticks, before reaching down and sniffing it.  
"It is not poisonous."  
"How do you know I can eat the same things like you? For all I know it could contain something that is lethal to humans only. Like chocolate is to almost every other animal than humans."  
"Only one way to find out." He pushed the plate closer to her.After hesitation she took a sporkful, slowly chewing the food with a thoughtful look on her face.  
He found himself focusing on her instead of his own food, curious to see her reaction.  
She took another mouthful.  
"It tastes weird."  
"I am not getting you anything else."  
"It's not bad. Just weird." She replied defiant, stuffing another sporkful into her mouth, chewing slowly.  
He was impressed that she ate the entire dish, a full meal meant for a galra soldier, but he assumed it was because she had barely eaten anything the last few quintants.  
He made sure to take the spork away from her before he forgot. It might not have been sharp, but it could very easily gouge his eyes out should she ever get the idea.  
And get high enough up.  
She huffed at the notion but let it go.

"Go back to the couch and keep your mouth shut. I'm expecting guests." He said as he cleaned away the plates and utensils as the girl trotted over to the couch. He could see in her movement that she was still injured. At least she didn't fiddle with the many patches covering her skin like some people tended to do.  
The knock on the door was expected and he strode over to it to welcome the guest.

Grand Tailor Aneera greeted him with a courteous bow you would only expect from high ranking civilians. The woman was graceful as always, even considering her age.  
"Congratulations on your new title, commander Haxus. It is well deserved for the soldier that helped retrieve Voltron." The woman stated as she stepped into the room.  
"Many thanks, Grand Tailor." He gave her a bright smile in return.  
"So why did you call me here? You want personalized armor so soon?"  
"As much as I would love to have you make a custom set of armor for me, I have a more pressing matter at hand." He gestured towards the girl on the couch.  
Aneeras eyes widened.  
"So the rumors are true, the Emperor did grant you the Green Paladin." Aneera lowered herself to the girls height, almost stalking towards her, observing her every detail. Katie frowned at the gesture and moved back further on the couch.  
"Indeed. I want you to make a set of clothes for her."  
"For the paladin?" She looked at him half shocked.  
"Mhm. I want everyone to know who she is, but also know that she belongs to me."  
Aneera hummed, hand resting on her chin. "An interesting project," she said and circled the girl seated on the couch. Katie glared back at her.  
"I assume using your clan colors is okay?"  
"That would be preferable."

The girl flinched when Aneera approached her with a measuring tape, coaxing her to a stand, and Haxus gave her a warning glare not to get any ideas.  
The tailor took every possible measurement of the girls body while barely touching her, which was quite the feat with how much the girl was flinching and squirming.  
When done she tapped the last of the measurements into her wrist panel.  
"Are all females of her species so small? The Champion is a lot taller." Aneera stated giving the girl a disdainful look.  
"I believe she is still considered a child." Katie scowled at him.  
"Typical of the Alteans to make a child fight their wars." Aneeras eyes were filled with well placed disgust.  
The girl opened her mouth to protest but Haxus made a small growl to make her keep her mouth shut.  
"Then I will compensate for growth in the garment." She jutted down a few more notes before clicking the panel shut.  
"How many sets do you think she will need?"  
"Two should be enough. And maybe a set of finery, if you have the time of course."  
"I am more worried about your GAC account."  
"Don't worry, I am willing to pay well for this." And then he remembered something. "But I might actually have something else of interest too." He hurried into the storage room, quickly returning carrying Katies paladin armor.  
"What? No!" The girl protested loudly.  
"Altean armor!" Neera exclaimed ignoring the girls remarks.  
"Consider it a gift. Do with it as you please."  
"No! That isn't yours!" Pidge cried out and darted towards the galra woman. Haxus simply whipped out the shock rod and pointed it at her, stopping her in her tracks. Both galra ignored her from then on.  
"As much as I would love to wipe out every trace of Altea from the universe, this is a most valuable piece of equipment. You have my thanks, Commander." She gave him a short bow, but equally courteous.  
He inclined his head politely in return.  
"Very well. I will return to my workshop and attend this project with speed. Farewell, Commander Haxus."

She left, and Haxus turned to the girl.  
"You broke a house rule. Twice." Katie took a step back.  
"What did I say was going to happen if you broke the rules? Hmm?" He puffed his chest out, back straight, trying to look as intimidating as possible, tapping the shock rod against his leg absentmindedly.  
Katie stumbled backwards, her eyes had fear in them, pupils just tiny specks on the light brown background.  
His strike hit before she could react, she barely managed to raise her arm, the one with the sprained wrist.  
Her pained cry as the metal crunched bone was like sweet song to his ears. The brace did little to protect it.  
She fell over on the floor, clutching her now broken wrist while tears once again rolled down her cheeks.

She deserved this.

"Have you learned?" He stood above her, a foot on each side of her chest, pointing the rod at her face.  
She nodded desperately, trying to keep herself from sobbing.  
"Say it," he growled.  
"Yes, commander!" she cried out. Choked sobs quickly followed.  
He nodded with a smirk and stepped away from her, letting her sit up.  
She cupped the damaged wrist defensively.  
"Now, ask nicely and I will heal your wrist." He packed away the rod, sticking it down into the compartment of his thigh armor.  
"Please..."  
"Please what?" He knew he was being cruel, but it didn't matter. This was the best way to make her learn.  
"Please heal my wrist, commander Haxus." She was shaking when she said it.  
"Good girl." He smirked and grabbed her uninjured arm, pulling her to a stand and pushing her towards the couch again.

He fetched the med kit and this time the quickset bone mixture was injected into the wrist. She whimpered loudly, but sat surprisingly still, even if she was shaking like a leaf the whole time.  
He tightened the brace thrice as much this time, making sure the wrist would set correctly, before he packed away the kit once again.  
"If you break another rule today I will break your wrist again. And I will not heal it, not matter how much you beg."  
"Now go to your room and stay there."  
Defeated, she stumbled into the room and he locked the door behind her.  
He left her in the room for the rest of the day, only letting her out to do her necessities and to give her another meal, which he made her eat in her room.  
So far she hadn't been too much trouble, but he was keeping his eyes in her.


	3. Meeting the Wall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge learns that there is no sympathy to gain from the other officers.

The girls clothes arrived the next morning. Aneera was known for efficiency but even Haxus was impressed over her swiftness and the quality of her work. The gift might have helped speed things up.  
The everyday clothes were a simple bodysuit with armored details, a fusion of the paladin armor and galra design, the green vedge across the chest. On the back was his clan’s crest. There would be no doubt who she was and who she belonged to.  
The finery was similar to the the everyday outfit, but with more decorative and less practical armor, plus a skirt which was open in the front. The shoulder armor was decorated with magenta balmera crystals, cementing the design as truly galra.

He made her put on both sets of clothes, checking that everything fit and looked good.  
He had also requested for underwear for the girl and while he simply eyeballed her sizes it seemed to work out ok. She had barely complained.  
“You don't look half bad,” he commented pleased with the final result. “You can place the remaining clothes in your drawer. I expect you to keep your room tidy.”  
She did as she was told, but she did murmur the whole way to her room.  
It didn't matter if she disapproved. He would not allow his neat space to be sullied.

She walked out into the living room without being prompted which was a pleasant surprise. She was starting to catch on to what she was and wasn't allowed to do.  
“Good,” he praised her and while it might be considered humiliating, he knew that positive reinforcement could do wonders.  
“Since you now is properly dressed, I was considering taking you on a little walk.” He walked up to her, hands clasped on his back. He leant forward just to study her better from his height. Her glare hit him back, even if she had to tilt her head backwards to see him.  
“But only if you know how to behave.”  
She snorted. “Whatever,” she mumbled and broke their gaze.  
His eyes narrowed and he had to resist the urge to grab her hair and shake her.  
She was not showing the levels of submissiveness he had hoped for by now.

“You will stay behind me at all times. Preferably at this distance.” He placed himself a meter or so from her. “Trail off and you will be punished.”  
“Do not touch anything and keep your limbs close to your body.”  
She frowned but followed him out of his quarters.  
She looked nervously around the hallway they were in and he had to give her a small growl in warning before she staggered after him.  
At this time of the quintant there were barely anyone out in the halls, but it didn't stop the few that were from staring.

Or from tossing comments in their direction.

“Nice catch, Haxus!” a fellow commander exclaimed with a grin before rounding a corner out of sight. Another gave him a smack on the shoulder and a hearty congratulation on his new title.  
Haxus smiled smugly at every comment.

Lower ranking soldiers and officers tossed him salutes wherever he went. For some it took a few ticks to recognise him and his new armor.  
He also noticed that some went out of their way to “accidentally” bump into the girl, even stepping on her feet, which resulted in some angry swearing from behind his back that did nothing more than pull at his lips to form small smiles whenever her furious voice reached his ears.  
She would have to get used to the unwanted attention. It was part of her punishment after all. Open hallways like this tended to be worse with fewer people to more easily spot her. She couldn't hide in the crowd. Not that she really could anyway. Her brown tuft of hair and light pinkish skin stood out like a sore claw amidst the many shades of purple.

He took her pretty much on a tour of Central Command. All the places he deemed important. Places he would frequent often that she would need to learn her way around.  
Later he would map out all the locations she would be allowed to enter into her collar. Should she ever dare to venture outside her designated areas she would get an unpleasant surprise.

 

It took a few vargas for her to start lagging behind. Not unsurprisingly. Her legs were a lot shorter than his and it was obvious she didn't have the same stamina as he did to keep up with his long strides.  
He took a break in front of a large panoramic window, the magnificent view of the rings encroaching Central Command stretched on.  
The girl slumped down on the floor, back towards the glass, face flushed red. Another strange human trait.  
“Problems?” he teased.  
“You move too fast!” she snapped, panting.  
“Oh? I thought a Paladin like yourself would have the strength to keep up with a simple galra like me.”  
“I’m not weak!” she spat back.  
“You are.” He said it like the fact it was.  
“Enough stalling, let us continue.” He turned on his heel and walked briskly down the hall. Behind him the girl groaned and got back on her feet. She had to almost run to catch up with him.  
“Linger behind like that again and I will punish you.”  
“Yes, commander Haxus,” she grumbled.

She managed to keep up with him for a while longer, but her lagging behind started to become ridiculous.  
When she stopped to clutch her side and lean against a wall, panting, he decided to slow down.  
If she got so exhausted she wouldn't be able to walk back home, then he would have to drag or carry her and neither was desirable.  
“You truly are pathetic.” His disdainful look made her look away, avoiding his gaze.  
She seemed too tired to come up with a snappy retort.

He sighed.  
There was a mess hall for officers nearby. They could take a break.

The officers lounge was quite stylish compared to the drab halls outside. Elegant drapings, decorative galran swirls akin to that of ancient Daibazal art accenting the furniture and walls. The atmosphere relaxed and laid back. He had spent many vargas here with Sendak whenever they were back at Central.  
Several commanders gave him lazy waves of acknowledgement and bright smiles. Until they noticed the girl and their eyes turned wide and curious. More than a few turned their heads as they walked to the back, towards the plush seating arrangements partially sheltered by dark purple plants.

Haxus sat down in the couch and sighed content from the soft cushion. Maybe he was a bit tired after all.  
The girl braced herself to climb into one of the chairs when he cleared his throat.  
“What?” she growled at the interruption.  
He pointed a finger on the floor.  
“You are not an officer.” He couldn't help the grin. “You sit on the floor.”  
The girl looked absolutely appalled at the notion to sit on the floor when there was perfectly good chairs for sitting right there.  
“You can't be serious?”  
“I am.” He motioned with his hand, pointing again at the floor. “You are not an officer, you are no longer a paladin, and most importantly, you are not galra.”  
She bared her teeth in a weak snarl.  
“If you sit down on the floor now I will consider not punishing you later.”  
Her eyes narrowed, but she dropped herself to the floor and crossed her legs.  
“The clothes will get dirty,” she muttered.  
“We’ll manage,” he said and picked up a small tablet laying on the nearby table, flicking through the lounges menu, picking out drinks.  
Moments later a sentry appeared with a blue luminescent drink in a long thin glass for him and a simple glass of water for the girl.  
He handed the girl the glass, but before she could grab it he withdrew it again.  
“What do you say?”  
The girl gritted her teeth loud enough for him to hear.  
“Thank you, commander Haxus.”  
“Good girl,” he said and let her take the glass.

She drank quickly, obviously thirsty, before placing the glass on the floor. She couldn't reach the top of the table from where she was sitting.  
“She’s so small.” The comment made the girl flinch.  
A thin lanky looking commander gazed down on her from the other side of the booth, the purple plants framing his upper body from view.  
“She is just a child, Sniv,” Haxus replied, sipping from his glass.  
Sniv stepped down and dropped to a knee next to the girl.  
“Who in their right mind would send a kit to war?”  
“Rageblinded Alteans would,” Haxus replied.  
Katie glared at him.  
“So cute,” Sniv commented. Katie puffed up and turned away from the commander.  
With her distracted Sniv reached out a hand patting her head. “And so soft!” he exclaimed just as she lashed out at his hand.  
“Stop touching me!” she cried out.  
“Katie!” Haxus growled in warning.

Sniv seemed to ignore her outburst and kept trying to touch her hair again, enamored by the softness, she answered by swatting his claws away every time they got near.  
Haxus understood the appeal. Long galra fur rarely got as soft as the girls silky hair.

But the girls outburst had attracted more onlookers and now no less than four other commanders and their lieutenants were standing in a half circle around their booth, all curious to what was going on.

“Is that thing really a Paladin of Voltron?” scoffed one of them and crossed their arms.  
“The Lions does not seem to discriminate on size,” said another and kneeled down next to Sniv.  
Katie apparently saw this as a threat and she started to push herself further in under the table while she kept her eyes on them.  
She yelped as one of them suddenly grabbed her ankle and pulled her out from her hiding place.  
“Stop!” she cried and tried to swat away their inquisitive hands. But they ignored her as they started to twist and turn her limbs to get a better look at her features.  
Now a third commander had joined them and he grabbed hold of her chin while Sniv continued his rather gentle caressing of her hair. He seemingly could not get over how soft it was.

Haxus let them explore her while he lazily sipped his drink.  
“L-let go of me!” The girl was starting to sound panicked and she was having greater difficulty keeping their hands away from her body.  
Not before a fourth commander decided to bend down and pick her up by one arm, commenting on how 'she barely weighed anything’ and she let out a rather shrill cry of pain when her many wounds was stretched open again, did he react.  
“Put her down. You are going to break her more than she already is,” he said and the commander tsked and dropped her. She hit the floor with a yelp and rolled over on her side, clutching her chest.  
“Aww, she’s crying,” Sniv said mockingly, his tone sugarsweet.  
“Fuck you,” she growled. Haxus frowned at her.  
“What was that? Couldn't hear you,” Sniv said mockingly in return turning one of his ears in her direction. He could be a horrible tease.  
“Fuck all of you!” she yelled, her anger so obvious in her body language.  
Sniv grabbed her collar and dragged her up into a seating position.  
“Maybe we should fuck you instead?” Katie froze in fear, her eyes wide and panicked. “Right here, in front of everyone.” Haxus could hear the malice in his voice as he saw the commanders claws trail the girls chest.  
Maybe this had gone too far. This was getting too close to uncomfortable.  
She was just a child after all.  
And he could smell her fear.

“She is just a child, Sniv. Don't sink that low.”  
“I’m just teasing,” he said and dropped the girl.  
“In bad taste.”  
“Perhaps,” he tsked just as his bracelet beeped.  
“Oops, gotta go,” he turned and headed towards the door. “Nice to meet you, paladin.” From his expression the mischievous smile he carried as he said it had the desired effect on the girl.

The rest of the officers dispersed quickly after, leaving Haxus and Katie alone in the lounge.  
Haxus took his time to enjoy the rest of his drink. The sounds of the ship were different here, more melodious, and the air was filled with relaxing scents of perfumed woods and desert sand.  
All in all an illusion to help with the feeling of homesickness.  
It worked too, and Haxus felt calm and relaxed.  
If not for the occasional sniffle from underneath the table breaking his immersion.  
He sighed, emptied his glass and stood.

“Come,” was all he said and headed to the door before she could even get to her feet.  
Surprisingly the girl managed to keep up with him the whole way home, but when they arrived at their quarters she seemed absolutely exhausted.  
She beelined for the couch and just let herself fall into it.  
Haxus meanwhile ordered some food.  
When it arrived he sat down at the kitchen table with his dish.  
The girl walked up and sat down on the other side.  
She looked around confused.  
“Looking for something?” he asked.  
“My food.”  
“You have not deserved food today.”  
“What?” she blurted out.  
“You broke several house rules. You spoke out of turn and most importantly you assaulted several officers.”  
“They started it!”  
“You do not fight back!”  
“T-that’s unfair!” she stammered, giving him an incredulous stare.  
“Doesn't matter. You do as you are told, or you will be punished. And today you do not eat.”  
“But…”  
“You’d rather I hit you or shock you instead?”  
“...no.”  
“Then take the punishment as it is before I take away tomorrow's meals too.”  
She opened her mouth to say something, but seemingly changed her mind quick enough.  
“Go to your room,” he said before she could get any other ideas.  
Defeated she headed for the door.

The moment she closed the door, Haxus pulled out the tablet and opened the camera feed of her room. He was curious.  
She pulled off her clothes, not even bothering to put them back in the drawer, just dumping them on the floor in a pile.  
She then placed a hand on the bed as if to climb into it when she froze.  
Even through the camera Haxus could see that she was trembling. Suddenly she sank to the floor, first on her knees and then she bent over, head touching the floor.  
For a tick he thought her injuries had worsened, ready to barge into the room to make sure she wasn't dying. But then he realized she was simply having a meltdown. The current events must have been too much for her feeble mind to handle.  
She sat there, bent over on the floor, her body shaking, her arms tightly woven around her chest. If he had bothered to turn on the sound he would probably have heard her pained gasps and sobs.  
Haxus snorted. He had almost been worried for the well being of the girl. Pathetic.  
He also had no interest in taking part in her misery. So he closed the feed and focused back on his meal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like Sniv. His appearance in the show was too brief.
> 
> Soon we will do a little time jump.


	4. Habits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We jump 3 years into the future and get to hear Pidges view on the story for the first time.

3 Years Later

 

\-----

Pidge stared weary eyed at the terminal in front of her.

She had spent most of the day making sure that the provisions for the 11th fleet were where they were supposed to be, sorted and ready, when a very familiar voice broke her out of her trance.

"Katie, are the provisions finalised?"

"Yes."

"Yes, what?"

Pidge sighed and grit her teeth.

"Yes, Commander Haxus." No matter how many times she had said it, it never came naturally, ever.

"Better."

"If you are finished you can head back to your quarters. I expect you to tidy up."

She rolled her eyes, turned off the terminal with a flick of her wrist and headed out the door.

The galra in the halls mostly ignored her. All of them knew who she was by now, and the few that didn't usually limited their curiosity to sneers and glares. At least no one ruffled her hair anymore.The first months as Haxus' 'assistant' had been rough. Everyone wanted to grab and touch, push her around and ask stupid questions. The Green Paladin was a show to behold! It was especially annoying when she was trying her damnest to complete the tasks she had been given, especially when failing to do so usually resulted in a lot more pain.  


But that was behind her.

Now she was just Haxus' servant, his assistant, the girl that fixed tables and numbers.

Best way to utilise her abilities he had claimed.

But it could have been worse, way worse, and for that she was grateful.

Haxus was a massive jerk, but he was not too unreasonable.

As long as she did her duties he mostly left her to her own devices, not that she had a lot of freedom to spend it on.

The officer quarters were quiet. Most of them still working. Galra work hours were much longer than what was common for humans. It had taken Haxus a week to realise it when she had collapsed from exhaustion at her terminal and had to be carried back to their quarters still unconscious. After that he had made it a habit of sending her home earlier. She could stay up on pure willpower alone before, but galra work hours took the cake!

Slapping her hand on the panel next to the door, impatient for it to open, she stepped into their quarters. Haxus' quarters.

It had been her home for the last 3 years even if it didn't show.

The only room with any trace of a human living there was hers. Drawings and scribbles hung on every wall, covering the dull greyish purple metal. Drawings of things from Earth, from the Castle of Lions, of her friends... She had tried to make it more homely but with limited resources it wasn't easy. Haxus wasn't prone to shower her in gifts either.

But he had given her paper, and something as crude as colored pens, mostly to just keep her from bothering him.

So she spent her free time doodling or jutting down small ideas.

She had asked for a pad, a tablet, a computer, anything electronic to interact with, but he had declined, calling it too risky. Her hacking skills had become her crux.

The only time she was allowed near any form of technology was during work, and it was always under supervision, either by Haxus or someone else.

She hated the constant surveillance. There were cameras everywhere, in the halls, in the office, in her room, and even in the bathroom. And then there was the collar around her neck. It had only come off once and that was to adjust it for her growth and make it fit better. It let her go everywhere she needed to go without needing anyone to follow her around, but it also limited where she could go. If she tried to step outside her boundaries it would alert the nearest sentry, and also administer a paralysing shock that would keep her immobilised until someone found her.

She had the unfortunate joy of experiencing that three times so far, twice because some asshole galra had pushed her into an area she was not supposed to be in, and once in the beginning because she was just too damn curious about the effects. She regretted that deeply.

All three times she had been punished heavily by Haxus. She remembered the pain from the shock rod well enough to not wanting to experience it again if she could avoid it.

The life as a slave was pitiful. She would work, have a place to sleep and food, but life was a never ending treadmill of boredom with no end in sight.

She had no future besides the work Haxus would grant her.

The days Haxus would bring her to parts of central command that had windows into space were both a blessing and a curse. A blessing to see something else than metal walls and endless corridors. And a curse for reminding her of her position and what she could have had had she not failed.

It was all her fault that they were in this mess.

She failed the team.

She failed her friends. Her brother and father. The entire human race.

Pidge kicked the foot of the bed. Anything to distract her from her thoughts.

Haxus wouldn’t be back before several hours later so she had enough time to kill.

She decided on a shower, not a bath, even if it would probably be good for her feet. Standing by the terminal all day was a killer on her feet, but galra didn't seem to be fond of chairs for some reason.

The warm water relieved some of the tension in her neck and shoulders and she let go of a deep sigh.

She hated this, she really did.

 

\-----

 

Haxus got home a few hours later. Pidge sat on the couch, scribbling on her paper like always.

“I am heading out,” he said as he dressed in his civilian clothes. She just hummed in response.

“Sendak is back at Central,” he said as he groomed the fur on his neck. “I believe the Champion is with him.”

“Shiro?” Pidges eyes widened. This was the first time Shiro had been mentioned in years. He was still alive. The relief was overwhelming. She found herself smiling. She just prayed Haxus didn't see it.  


Haxus merely nodded, back towards her.  


“I’ll be back in a few vargas. Go to bed at the agreed time.”

“As always,” she muttered in reply. There was nothing to gain from staying up late anyway. Nothing but a tired body and unfocused mind.  


Only good thing with being alone was that she could browse the galra equivalent of TV as much as she wanted, if she could find something worthwhile in the sea of propaganda.

She stuck to her drawings instead, but her thoughts were elsewhere.

Shiro was alive.

She wasn't as alone as she had imagined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't think Pidge's suffering is over just because she isn't constantly being bullied.


	5. Smalltalk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stop me if you've heard this one before: Two galra commanders walk into a bar...
> 
> Haxus and Sendak has a bit of a talky time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We get both Haxus' and Sendaks point of view here.

Sendak sat by the bar, a glass of pale liquor in hand, twirling the liquid absentmindedly. He barely glanced to the side when Haxus sat down next to him.

"Been a while since you've been back at Central Command." Haxus said and smiled fondly at him.  
"As long as there are systems to conquer I will always be busy." Sendak returned the smile.  
"So what brings you back?"  
"Would you believe if it I said it's the booze?" Sendak gave him a small smirk.  
Haxus huffed out a short laugh and Sendak smiled and then sighed.  
"The Emperor wants me to overlook a new project."  
"Sounds unnecessary."  
"It would be if it wasn't for the fact that the project revolves around the Black Lion and a certain Champion. He wants me there simply to hold his leash."  
"Figures."  
"I don't mind. Could use the rest. Last mission was rough. Had to replace a few bones." Sendak tapped his right leg with a claw. "The druids were thrilled."  
"I can imagine." Those masked freaks always found pleasure in the most depraved things.  
"But enough about me, how is life here at Central treating you? Do you regret staying an office rat?"  
"Not really. While travelling the galaxy is enjoyable, I find my abilities better suited for the logistics and strategy work central provides. And the Emperor seems to agree."  
"I don't doubt it. Sometimes I do miss having you on the bridge. My new lieutenant isn't awful, but she doesn't have your, what should I say, magic touch?"  
"You flatter me," Haxus said with a playful smirk.  
"Don't let it go to your head." Sendak teased back at him.  
"You mentioned the Champion. Is he still active?"  
"As much as his physique allows him. He was difficult at the start, but came around after a while. For a non-Galra I admire his tenacity, but he can be quite a handful at times. He is a stubborn survivor."  
"Just like yourself."  
"Victory or death, Haxus. Victory or death." Sendak grinned and downed the rest of his drink.  
"Is the Green one still alive?" He put his glass upside down on the bartop, signaling for another round by the barkeep, who immediately filled a new glass.  
"Alive and kicking. For something so small, she has a terrible temper." Sendak chuckled in response.  
"You never told me why you wanted her in the first place. I assumed to torture her, but considering you haven't handed her over to the druids yet I feel that was not the case?"  
"Both yes and no." Haxus took another sip of his glass, a strained look on his face.  
"Then why?"  
"I want her." Haxus brows furrowed deeply.  
Sendak stared at him with a wide eye before letting out a bark of laughter.  
"You can't be serious?"  
"It's not like you've haven't had your way with the Champion." Haxus replied with a snark.  
"That is different, he can take it and we have a mutual agreement. She is too small. She would not survive. And I can't believe she would agree to it either."  
"I am not as large as you. Besides, she has grown a lot since you last saw her." He gestured her height into the air. "And I don't care if she enjoys it or not," he added. "This is my revenge."  
Sendak frowned.  
"You've had her for what, two deca-phoebs now?"  
"Three actually."  
"And you are telling me you have not grown attached?" Sendak gave him an incredulous look.  
Haxus snorted and Sendak leant back on his stool, sighing deeply.  
"I'm telling you this not as your once commander, but as your friend. Be careful. What you are planning might take you down a path of no return," Sendak said, pointing a clawed finger at Haxus.  
"Of all the commanders I thought you would understand. With the amount of children you have sired-"  
"With willing partners yes, and so can you,” Sendak shot in, a stern look on his face. "Your status allows you. You don't have to stoop to abusing children."  
"I am no pedophile, Sendak! I am waiting for her to come of age. I am no barbarian like Branko or Ranveig," Haxus snapped back.  
Sendaks frown deepened.  
"You are raising her like a pig for slaughter."  
"Correct." Haxus glare bored into Sendak's one eye.  
And then Sendak smiled, but it didn't seem genuine.  
"I am not sure if I should be shocked or impressed." He chuckled halfheartedly.  
"I can show restraint like few can." Haxus said and raised his chin in pride.  
"Undoubtedly."  
Sendak sighed again.  
"What you do to her is none of my business, as long as you don't kill her." He made sure Haxus heard the warning in his voice. "And don't tell Throk about it. You know how insufferable he is around the topic of interspecies breeding."  
"Gods, no! Would never cross my mind to tell that spindly legged freak about this," Haxus scoffed.  


They sat in silence for a while just enjoying the atmosphere of the bar.  


Sendak shifted on his stool and Haxus recognised the signs of his previous superior having a question he was not very thrilled to ask.

"So, when do humans become old enough? How old is she now?" Sendak's curiosity about the girl was new, but Haxus felt like he could indulge.  
"From what she has told me she is 18 now, which is the "age of consent" as she called it, in some cultures of her home planet. In comparison your Champion is 28."  
"I assume he is considered adult?" Sendak asked curiously.  
"By quite some time actually."  
"Good."  


They sat in silence for a while again, nothing but the sounds of clinking glass.

Then Sendak straightened his back and frowned.

“May I see her? I could use some more leverage to control the Champion.”  
Haxus thought about it and couldn't really find a reason to say no.  
“Why not,” he said and the both of them downed their glasses in one go.

 

\-----

 

"Katie, I brought someone you have not seen in a while."

"I hope it's not that jerk Sniv again." Katie called back from her room.

She froze on the doorstep.

Sendak couldn’t ignore the look of fear on her face, fear that quickly turned to anger, eyes narrowing to thin slits. Baring her teeth she let go of something that unmistakingly sounded like a growl. Apparently the ways of the galra had rubbed off on her.

"You." Her voice was laced with poison.  
"Nice to see you again, Green." Sendak's voice was dripping with mockery and his wide toothy grin didn't help.  
"Why don't you crawl back into whatever dark hole you just came from, you quiznacking piece of-" she was not allowed to finish before Haxus snapped at her.  
"KATIE! Go to your room!" Katie turned on her heel, muttering angry to herself as she stomped back into her room, slamming the door shut behind her.  
"Why did you ask me to come out there if you didn't even want me there!" she yelled back at them. 

Haxus shook his head and sighed. "That is something I still haven't been able to beat out of her."  
"I did not expect any less from her." Sendak huffed with a smile that turned into a grin. “Besides, making them angry is half the fun.”  
Haxus snorted.  
"Mind if I talk to her in private?"  
“Go ahead. I’ll get us something to snack on.”

Sendak stepped into her room, his frame almost filling out the small space on his own.

He threw a small glance over the walls, noticing the numerous pieces of paper plastered to it. Crude drawings and loosely scribbled text covered most of the surface. Katie’s many poor attempts at rendering the other paladins in the 2D format. If not for the colors he would not recognise any of them. Any galra soldier could do better than this.

"What are you doing here? Get out of my room! HAXUS!" She started yelling the moment she turned around.  
"Stop yelling. He let me in here."  
"But I don't!"  
"Shut it. I'm here to talk."

She looked at him like she wanted to charge at him and attack. The thought made him smirk. He couldn't imagine her tiny fists be able to inflict any kind of damage.

"I have a proposition for you regarding the Champion, or Shiro as you call him."

Her eyes lit up.

"Where is he?! What have you done to him!"  
"Calm down. Currently he is here with me, at Central Command. And he is fine. He wouldn't mind seeing you." Sendak tried to sound sincere. "But that might change. Behave yourself and maybe I can arrange a meeting."

He could sense the tiny gears in her head working overtime to process his demand.

"That can't be everything you want from me."  
"No, that is mostly it. Be good and Shiro stays safe. Be bad and he will start having some 'difficulties'."  
"That's not fair!"  
"Life isn't fair, kid."  
“You are a jerk!”  
“I guess.” Sendak shrugged with a smirk. “But like I said, behave and maybe you get to meet him.”  
She puffed up. “Fine!”  
“Good,” Sendak replied and left the room.

Takashi was going to enjoy seeing his little friend again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sendak is trying not to interfere in Haxus' business, but he can't hide the fact that he finds rape to be disgusting. And while Haxus consider her now an adult, Sendak only sees the little girl he met 3 years ago.
> 
> Also sorry for all the talking this chapter.


	6. Old Acquaintances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge gets to meet an old friend.

Whatever the discussion between the two had been, Katie seemed to behave better than usual, preemptively doing things without having to be prompted and fewer snide backhanded comments.

It was almost suspicious.

And when Sendak called him and said he wanted to arrange a meeting between the two paladins it became clear what he had been plotting.

Not that he minded. The last movement had been a breeze.

But now? She was being  _ too _ happy. It was grating seeing her smile as she almost skipped ahead of them as they headed towards the room they were going to use as a meeting place. Sendak had picked it, on the basis of it only having one entrance and could be locked from the outside. But it was practically a lounge.

Katie had insisted on wearing her finery. Wasn’t many occasions where she could so he didn’t mind.

Haxus was curious though, of what the Champion would look like now, if he had changed much from those deca-phoebs ago. He could understand Sendak’s interest in the man, the powerful are attracted to power after all. 

But he wasn’t Haxus’ cup of tea.

 

\-----

 

Shiro was sitting on a bench in the middle of the room. His uniform was simple but refined, he too brandishing a heavy collar, but his seemed to be a tad more advanced than hers. A cuff of some sort was placed on his right wrist, to negate the effect of his galratech arm she assumed.

He seemed lost in thought, hands resting on his knees.

"Shiro?" Pidge was almost afraid it was an illusion. But when he lifted his head to stare her head on and those charcoal eyes gazed back at her, she knew it was him.

Tears welled in her eyes as she crossed the floor in quick strides, meeting him halfway.

The embrace was deep, he covered her in his arms and they sank to the floor to rest on their knees. Shiro was trembling and she felt his tears making the neck of her suit wet. 

She cried too.

It had been so long.

 

\-----

 

Sendak and Haxus surveyed their affectionate reunion from the door.

"Give them a few doboshes. It will make them both more complacent." Sendak said and rested against the nearby pillar. Haxus crossed his arms and scoffed.

“Humans are so emotional.”

“An evolutionary trait I assume. Makes them easier to control however.”

“Yes, yes it does.”

Haxus shifted his stance and tsked.

“I wonder how she will react. Anger I assume.”

“You are still planning to go through with it?” Sendak raised an eyebrow.

“Of course. I have been planning this for three deca-phoebs. Backing out now would be weak.” Haxus huffed.

“I still think it is a bad idea.”

 

\-----

 

They talked about everything that had happened in the 3 years they had been in captivity, but Pidge had a feeling Shiro wasn’t telling her everything. But she tried to tell him most of her own experiences instead.

“Haxus hurt me a lot in the beginning. I didn't want to give up, but it was so hard,” she said as she dried off some of the tears on her sleeves.

“Don't blame yourself. If we should blame anyone it should be me. I dragged you all into this war.” Shiro let go of a deep sigh.

“Don't say that, I would never blame you,” Pidge said and looked at him with worry in her eyes. He gave her a sad smile back.

“Do you know what happened to the others? I’m kinda afraid to ask Haxus about it," she asked and fidgeted with the hem of her skirt.  


“Sendak says they are alive and well, that Zarkon wants us around for some reason. I don't know more than that, sorry.”

She gave him a sad smile.

“Better than nothing.” She folded her hands in her lap. “I wish I also knew more about dad and Matt.”

“Me too.”

“Some days I wonder if the Empire has reached Earth yet. I really hope not.”

“I think we would have heard something about it then. I can’t imagine Haxus wouldn’t want to rub that in your face.” Shiro laughed halfheartedly. Pidge smiled at the joke. It was kinda true, Haxus would if he could. And he wasn’t the kind of person to lie, so she would only have to worry if he suddenly brought Earth up in conversation.

“Shiro?”

“Yeah?”

“I know it's never going to happen, but I really want to go home. I hate it here.” Her voiced cracked near the end.  


Shiro hugged her closer.

“Me too. Me too,” his voice was almost a whisper.

Then the shadow of Sendak’s massive fram fell upon them and he said: “Time is up, Takashi. We have other things to attend.”

“Yeah…” Shiro said, voice somber. He gave Pidge another hug before following Sendak out of the room, but not before giving her a worried glance over his shoulder.

Pidge sat on the bench in silence.

She wasn’t sure what to feel. She was happy to see Shiro again, but she was also sad.

 

\-----

 

“Was it nice seeing your friend?” Haxus asked.

“Yeah.”

“You should be happy that Sendak was willing to let you.”

“I am.” He could see her furrowing her brows.

“Good.”

 

\-----

 

“The girl has grown,” Sendak said as they walked back to their quarters.

“Yeah, she has,” Shiro replied and smiled softly.

“She is a fully fledged woman now is she not?”

“Heh, I guess. I sure as hell did not feel like an adult when I was her age ten years ago. But I guess being thrown into a war makes you grow up fast.” Shiro let go of a deep sigh.

Sendak hummed.

“She seemed to be at good health at least.”

Shiro scowled at him.

“Sendak, I know that he hurt her. You attempting to cover it up is futile. You did break your promise of keeping her safe.”

Sendak sighed.

“He had the right to do so. She was a slave and his property. I couldn't take that from him.”

“She was a child, Sendak! Barely a teenager! And you let him torture and abuse a little girl!" Shiro snapped at him. "I know you are ruthless galactic conquerors, but seriously? You all make me sick.” Shiro sped up and stomped down the hall, leaving Sendak behind in his slower pace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Next chapter will contain a rather detailed rape scene. I recommend anyone who wants to avoid that to wait until chapter 8 is out before reading anything more.


	7. Vengance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haxus gets his revenge completed at last.
> 
> WARNING: This chapter contains the aforementioned rape scene. Please proceed to chapter 8 if you do not wish to read the details.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry, Pidge!
> 
> Why do I always make these super shitty things happen to characters I like!

Today was the day.

He had the whole quintaint off.

Dressed in relaxed clothes he walked to her room, opening the door slowly.

“Katie.”

"What is it, Haxus? If you are complaining about the-" Haxus interrupted her before she could finish.

"Do you really consider yourself an adult now, Katie?"

"Yeah, you know I do." She replied, ever confident, but there was a bit of uncertainty in her voice, but it seemed to be more about his request than anything else.

"What is this about?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I have been waiting three deca-phoebs for this." 

This was it. No more stalling.

"What are you..." Confusion spread across her face as Haxus moved closer.

When he grabbed her shoulder that confusion got a hint of fear. And when he pushed her down onto the bed that confusion vanished to be fully replaced by horror.

And panic.

"What are you doing?!" There was denial in her voice, like she knew deep inside what he wanted. She didn't want it. But he did. And he didn't care.

She was struggling now, pushing at his arms and chest with her thin limbs, all while she cried out for him to stop.

He placed his left arm across her chest, holding her down that way, while the other hand dragged down her pants. Her small hands tried to drag them back up, but his grip was tighter and the fabric ended up on the floor, baring her pristine smooth thighs.

A lightly furred hand trailed the inside of them. The odd way her skin went from smooth to bumpy as he touched the tiny hairs there, it was fascinating, like she was raising her hackles with no fur.

Small legs tried to kick him away as he forced himself between them.

A flick of a claw and her underwear parted from her body just as easily as her pants had and he pulled it away, leaving her sex bare.

Apart from the lack of fur, except for a small tuft, there was nothing too different from a galra cunt. He had seen more alien cunts in his time. This was nothing in comparison.

She whimpered when he probed her with a claw. He small fingers tried to claw at his hand, to move it away, but her dull nails did nothing.

He freed his member from the confines of his own pants, stroking it firmly, letting the precum drip from the tip, coating the head in it liberally with his thumb.

"This is for that humiliation you brought upon me that day." He growled that sentence as he thrust forward.

The scream that left her throat was pained and sharp enough to make him flatten his ears.

"I hope it was worth it." His voice was bitter, three deca-phoebs of pent up anger.

"Stop!" she cried with a broken voice as tears were running down her cheeks.

Tiny fists pummeled at his chest in vain as her sobs grew more and more frantic.

With an arm across her chest and his other hand moving to muffle her screams he thrusted lazily into her, finding a suitable pace. She was tight, but not painfully so. Her insides were smooth, but warm, oh so warm, giving a different type of pleasure than a galra cunt would.

Her hands clawed at his face, dull fingernails scraping across his jaw barely leaving a mark. She couldn’t reach anywhere important to do any serious damage so he let her. If she hadn't fought back it would have been disappointing after all. What kind of revenge would that have been?

She whimpered at every thrust. Her body trembling beneath his own.

It had been a while since he had pleasured himself like this, he wouldn't last long.

He came with a grunt more akin to a growl. Heart still racing in his chest, breath coming fast, but slowly calming down.

She had stopped fighting when he pulled out, only a small whimper of pain was all that told him she hadn't fainted.

He ignored the blood painting the bedsheets and his own member a deep crimson red.

Leaving her alone on the bed he headed to the bathroom to take a shower. His arousal was not something he wished for anyone to smell off him.

When he exited the bath he heard no movement from her room and didn’t give it a seconds thought. He was hungry and that was all that mattered at the moment.

Heading to the mess hall in a fresh uniform he locked the door to their quarters before heading down the hall.

He felt refreshed. A weight removed from his shoulders for the first time in ages.

 

\-----

 

He didn't return to his quarters before Central Commands daytime system had dimmed the lights to almost nothing. The quarters were quiet, but he didn't give it much thought. He had a lot to drink anyway.

He tidied away his clothes neatly and dropped himself on the bed.

Sleep came easily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also just so you are aware I have had most of these chapters almost complete for a long time, hence why I have been able to publish them with such short breaks in between.


	8. Realisation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haxus start to realise things...

Haxus woke to silence.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

But often enough Katie would wake around the same time as him, and her usual shuffling about was eerily absent.

Dressed in his usual uniform and armor, with his slick fur groomed to perfection, as always, he readied for the new quintant.

"Katie!" he called. It was about time she got up. She had work to do.

Nothing.

Only silence emanated from her room.

He frowned and headed to her door. If she was being sulky he would have no problems with punishing her, whipping her back into obedience. He had done so many times before.

"Katie, I give you one dobosh to get your lazy-" he stopped when he laid his eyes on her.

She hadn't moved at all since the quintant before. Her limbs were all in the same places. The dried blood smeared across the inside of her thighs were still there and so was the bruises he caused; Dark blotches of blue and purple on her arms and thighs. The hair still a tangled mess.

And her eyes.

Her eyes stared into nothing.

They used to be so full of life, of expression and color. Now they looked so pale and motionless.

If not for her quiet breathing, he would think she was dead.

"...Katie?" He almost bit his tongue for allowing his worry to bleed into his voice.

She blinked and looked over at him.

The fear and panic that filled those eyes was painful to look at, even to him.

Her breathing catched as she tried to sit up with trembling arms, pushing herself backwards towards the wall.

It took a few ticks for her to start hyperventilating and he was just standing there dumbstruck.

He didn't react before her high pitched scream filled the small room, and all he did was take one step back out of the room, closing the door in front of himself.

This wasn't what he predicted.

He was actually not sure what it was he had predicted.

But it wasn't this.

But what did he expect?

That she would go back to her quiet mutterings and snide comments? Like this never happened?

Had he even planned to still keep her around after getting his revenge? It never crossed his mind that there would be a time after the revenge that they would still be living together.

He could send her away, but why did that thought make him hesitate?

 

He was not sure what to do.

 

A beep from his bracelet broke him out of his trance. He was late for work.

In a futile attempt at pushing his thoughts out of the way he left his quarters.

Maybe, just maybe, all she needed was some time.

 

\-----

 

Same evening he placed a tray with food and drink outside her door before going to bed.

She hadn't been outside since yesterquintant. He kept an eye on the room via the cameras most of the quintant and her movement had been minimal, almost to the point he was worried she was actually dead.

And why did that worry him so?

This was the girl that had humiliated him, degraded him before his then commander. He should be happy that she was feeling miserable.

Then why wasn't he?

He couldn't make the bad feeling go away.

It was almost laughable. For he to feel sympathy for a mere slave.

He scoffed at the thought and buried himself in his nest of pillows.

 

\-----

 

The drink was gone from the tray, but the food remained.

He still couldn't muster the courage to open the door and talk to her.

 

The door remained closed.

 

\-----

 

On the third quintaint he had mustered up enough willpower to talk to her.

"Katie?" he asked through the door.

No response.

He cracked the door open just a bit.

"Katie, are you alright?"

Nothing.

He pushed the door open a bit more so he could peek inside.

She was sitting in the corner of her bed, the blood stained bed sheets wrapped around herselves in a tight cocoon. He could barely see her face through the folds of fabric.

Her eyes were lifeless and staring. Fixed on the wall on the other side of the room. Just like last time.

And like last time there was nothing in those eyes.

Like someone had ripped her soul out through them.

He walked up to her, placing a tray of warm food and cold drink on the bed. He had made sure to pick something he knew she enjoyed.

She ignored it and him.

"You need to eat." He said, trying to not make it sound like an order.

"...please," he added like an afterthought.

 

He stood there for a while, waiting for a response, but none came.

He sighed and left, closing the door quietly behind him.

 

\-----

 

Fourth quintant and she still hadn't eaten.

His worry was affecting his work. He found himself making small errors he usually would never commit.

_'Enough was enough.'_

Haxus squeezed the bridge of his nose with his claws.

 _'The girl is sick, she needs medical attention, that is all,'_ he told himself as he headed back to his quarters. He would take her to the medbay, and should it be needed, to the druids themselves.

 

\-----

 

Katie was still laying curled up in the bedsheets. Her eyes were heavy lidded and her breathing shallow.

For some reason he felt afraid to touch her.

Would she scream again?

When he placed his hand on her shoulder she didn't react and he let out a breath of relief.

Bundled up in his arms covered in a new clean blanket he carried her down the many corridors towards the closest medbay, gaining stares from the few passerbys he encountered.

Right then he didn't care what they thought. Besides, he was a commander, what he did was none of their business.

He kept his chin high and ignored their oogeling.

The medbay was so different from the rest of Central Command. The light was brighter, not as magenta, and it reeked of antiseptic and blood. He could count on one hand the number of times he had to spend time here during his 600 year lifespan and he would like to keep it like that.

At least this time it was not he who had to endure the bright light and pricking needles.

A nurse showed them to a vacant cot and he laid her down with care.

"What is the problem?"

"She refuse to eat."

"For how long?"

"Four quintains, in a row."

"Has she been checked in here before?" The nurse asked as he tapped away on a tablet.

"No."

"Species?"

"Human, from Earth of the Sol system." He replied. Then after thinking he added: "There are only male specimens in the database."

"I see. Hopefully it should not cause any problems."

The nurse steered the hovering cot into a nearby room, leaving Haxus alone in the reception area.

Alone with his thoughts.

 

\-----

 

It took a varga before the nurse reappeared.

"We healed the injuries to her genitalia and have given her a nutrition injection, but she will need to start eating on her own again very soon.” The nurse handed him a datapad with her info. “In short it seems she is in emotional shock. Unfortunately, human psychology is not our speciality."

Haxus nodded and the nurse went back inside.

His breath caught in his throat as the nurse led Katie out the doors. Her hand looked ridiculously small in the nurses hand. Her steps were slow and shaky, dressed only in a simple medical garb, tied up to compensate for her short build.

She looked so tired, eyes cast to the floor.

"We can't do much else for her than this."

Haxus nodded and took Katies hand when the nurse offered it to him.

The walk back was silent and slow. He didn't rush her.

But he found himself glancing on her constantly.

Had she always looked this frail?

Her small feet had to be freezing against the metal floors.

Back in their quarters he steered her to the couch and made her sit. He then fetched two of his own blankets to wrap her in. He took great care to cover her now freezing cold legs. She had no fur to protect herself with after all.

He left her on the couch and headed to the bathroom to fill the tub. Warm water would help to get the heat back into her body again.

He also ordered some food to be delivered and then went to guide her to the bathroom and help her into the warm water.

Her body reeked of several days worth of sweat.

And blood.

The medical staff did not clean her.

Obviously. Not their job to clean slaves.

The evidence of his actions glared back at him.

And she just sat there.

The same empty stare.

So empty...

He tried to nudge her into cleaning herself, but she remained unresponsive.

In the end he found himself carefully cleaning her body with a wet cloth, gently scrubbing her limbs.

He hesitated when he reached her thighs.

He couldn't imagine she wanted him to touch her there again.

"Katie? Is it okay if I wash you down there?" Why was he even asking for permission? It wasn’t like he cared what she felt, right?

No reply.

He waited a bit before carefully and slowly washing her thighs.

He didn't dare get too close to her crotch.

Her hair turned out to be difficult. He had never had to deal with that much fur in his life, being of the smooth short furred kind. Not even Sendaks mane had been this long. But he tried his best, lathing it up with soap and trying to untangle the worst of it without ripping it out. Unlike galra fur that grows to a certain length and stays that way, human fur seemed to grow indefinitely. It had been a lot shorter those three deca-phoebs ago.

He emptied the tub and tried his best to dry her body.

She was still completely apathetic, just moving when he pushed or pulled her limbs somewhere.

He brought her back to the couch, covering her lithe body in the blankets and sat down next to her.

She looked so fragile. Why hadn't he noticed that before?

The knock on the door signaled the foods arrival.

He knew for certain that this was something she liked and he was determined to get her to eat even if he had to feed her like she was a rebellious kit.

He placed the bowl of meat and lentils in her lap, letting the heat seep through the blankets.

Placing a spork in her hand he tried to make her do it herself, but she just stared at it.

He smiled when she with a shaking hand finally lifted the spork.

"I know you like this, Katie," he said with a smile, trying to sound friendly. It was harder than he thought.

She looked at him and then back at the food, dropped the spork back in the bowl and then pushed it away from her lap.

He frowned.

A thought suddenly hit him.

Was he causing this?

She wouldn't eat because he was there?

Did she think he had done something with it?

"It's just food, Katie. I haven't done anything to it." He lifted the bowl back to its original location.

No response.

He sighed defeated.

"Katie... You need to eat."

"...why?" Her voice was barely a whisper but it was enough to catch his whole attention.

For a second he was empty of words. Just happy she was speaking again.

"You will starve if you don't. You will die."

"Why does it matter to you?"

His eyes widened in shock.

Why did it matter?

She was just a slave after all. His enemy. His trophy.

Why did he care for her?

Because she was good company?

For she was always there and while she whined and complained she was never boring.  
She kept him entertained with talk about distant worlds, her life on Earth and things from her imagination.

Because she listened to him?

She would always listen when he talked, even if he was just rambling about useless co-workers or bad management.  
She would even comment and add her opinion. And she did as she was told, even if she did it with a mutter of complaint.

Because she had been there when no one else had?

When he had gotten the news that one of his sisters had fallen in combat during a riot on a distant moon.  
She could have left him alone, stayed in her room until he got over it, but she hadn’t.  
She had stayed in the living room as he had mourned, kept him company by just being there,  
not a word spoken, but respect shown nontheless.

Because he didn't realise that taking care of another sentient being for three deca-phoebs did this to a person?

For staying around someone, seeing them grow and change.

And he had hurt her.

 

His voice was weak when he spoke.

 

"I...I don't want you to die."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to let a lot of their interaction during those 3 years go unsaid, not having to actually write 3 years worth of bickering, but rather give the reader hints to what happened in snippets instead.  
> Not sure if it turned out well though, so feedback on that is appreciated.
> 
> This chapter is also a kind of backwards mirror of the first chapter, in how he treats her.


	9. Despair

She didn't answer.

And she didn't eat either.

He left her on the couch.

He didn't know what to do.

He found himself picking at his own food, not able to stomach any of it.

It went cold and he gave up, cleaning it away.

He slept poorly.

 

\-----

 

He decided to end work early. He couldn't concentrate and the work itself was not vital. He could allow himself this.

He found the couch empty, the blankets scattered across the floor.

One part of him was happy that she was moving around.

The other was worried.

 

He had left the door to his own room unlocked.

 

He could barely suppress the shock that filled him as he opened the door to the bathroom.

The crimson that stained the floor tiles and edges of the bath made his eyes widen and his ears flatten.

He couldn't tell if there was more blood than water in the tub.

Katie laid limp in the lukewarm water, her wrists slit, one of his many daggers haphazardly dropped by the foot of the tub, it too coated in her blood.

It took several ticks before his body reacted and he wrenched open the many cabinets in search of the med kit. When he found it he wasted no time in wrapping her wrists in bandages, applying as much pressure as he dared to her delicate limbs to stop the little blood left from leaving her body.

This time he didn't bother to cover her in a blanket as he sprinted down the halls. But not to the medbay this time.

He took her to the druids.

As he stormed into their lab, their creepy masked faces pivoted to him immediately.

He begged them.

 

\-----

 

In hindsight he didn't know if the druids saved her because he asked them to or because she was a former Paladin of Voltron.

But he didn't care.

"She lost a lot of blood." The voice of Haggar came from the other side of the medical bed next to him. Katie laid splayed out in it, hooked up to a variety of machines.

He stared down at her frail form. Her skin even more bleak than before. The magenta light of the quintessence being pumped into her veins through clear tubes all around her cast her in a pinkish light.

"There is no guarantee she will survive." Haggar said and tapped at one of the screens nearby.

"Commander, I would like you to tell me the reason to why she tried to commit suicide. Why now? And where did she gain the means to inflict these injuries upon herself?"

He bit his lip and stared at the floor.

He steeled himself and told Haggar everything.

He was glad there was only the two of them in the room.

 

\-----

 

Haggar kept her face unchanged during his explanation.

When the last word was said he sat down and covered his face in his hands.

"You are a fool, Haxus." Her voice was sharp. "I might not be able to strip you of your rank, commander, but if she dies because of this I am certain the Emperor would gladly do so. If he does not take your life instead."

He is not sure what frightened him more, but he knew that he would never be able to care for her after a demotion. Or his death.

"Please, I just don't want her to die."

Haggar sighed.

"I knew letting you and Sendak keep the Paladins was a mistake." She shook her head. "I am docking your salary to cover the cost of the quintessence needed to heal her."

"Anything."

Haggar observed him for a few ticks.

"Does she really mean that much to you? You are not known for being caring."

"Things changed." Haxus frowned at his own words.  


Haggar cocked her head.

"I can't relate, but I will take your word for it." She turned back to the monitors. "Now leave. You are of no use to us here."

When he hesitated she sighed.

"We will contact you if anything happens, good or bad." She waved him away.

With that he made his way out of the lab.

The walk back to his quarters was painful.

He felt cold and he couldn't blame it on Central Commands glitchy heating.

 

\-----

 

His quarters felt empty.

 

He forced himself to clean up the mess in the bathroom. He could make the sentries do it. But no. He needed to do it.

It's was his fault.

His arms ached like after a heavy training session, and his fur was probably soaked in her blood, but the bathroom was now clean.

He washed the obsidian like blade of the dagger Katie had used to cut her wrists.

The dagger had been a gift from his sisters when he became lieutenant under commander Sendak. 

 

He threw it in the trash.

 

He didn't want to see it ever again.

 

\-----

 

A shower later and with most of the blood washed out of his fur he felt a bit cleaner.

He spent the rest of the evening tidying up his quarters. He wanted things to look presentable. He had always been a fan of neat spaces, and in the last few quintaints he had let it decay.

 

Her room needed cleaning too.

 

His eyes widened when he entered the small space. Used to the many pieces of paper covering the walls, he was not prepared for them all to be laying on the floor shredded to pieces. And neither was he prepared for the rough large writing covering the metal walls instead.

 

Nothing matters.

It is pointless.

Why bother.

I don't want to live anymore.

I don't want to live anymore.

I don't want to live anymore.

 

He could see where the pens had stopped working by the rough treatment, now laying on the floor with ruined tips.

 

He couldn't feel mad at her for soiling the walls. He wanted to be, but he couldn't.


	10. Blame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haxus cries on Sendak's shoulder and Pidge gets to see Shiro again.

Haxus groaned. Face down onto the bartop, arms hanging limp at his sides.

"I messed up." He mumbled into the cold surface beneath his face.

Sendak looked at him, not with pity, but a 'told you so' look on his face.

“Haggar told me. She was utmost displeased and threatened to take the Champion away from me.” Sendak said with a frown.

Haxus swallowed. The look of disappointment on his best friends face burned him.

“But do not worry, I spoke with the Emperor. You are safe for now.”

Haxus nodded. The lump in his throat was getting bigger.

“Forgive me. I should have listened to you.”

Sendak sighed.

“I did not foresee she would react this way. Something similar, certain, but not this. Humans behave ...differently, than galra and most other species I have encountered.”

Haxus didn’t reply, just stared at his friend, digesting the words.

Haxus slid off his barstool to leave, only to be stopped by Sendak’s heavy flesh hand on his shoulder.

“Haxus, if she dies…” the soft look on Sendak’s face was all that told him it was not a threat, but a plea.

“I won’t let her, even if it means giving her to the druids permanently,” he said determined.

Sendak nodded affirmatively and pat his shoulder firmly.

"I promised the Champion I would let him see the Green Paladin soon. Maybe it could cheer her up?"

“Maybe.” Haxus sighed, but followed Sendak out in the hall.

 

\-----

 

They didn’t talk as they walked back to their respective quarters, but eventually Sendak cleared his throat.

"Can I ask you something?"

Haxus just shrugged.

"What did you expect would happen?"

"I don't know. I guessed she would be angry, that she would sulk for a few days and then things would go back to normal."

Sendak shook his head.

"Taking something from someone which you can't give back never results in anything good. Especially when you can’t just end it there and then.” He made a noisy sound by closing his metallic fist. “And you grew attached. Your biggest mistake."

"I tried. But it was hard not to."

Sendak sighed.

"There are times I would have loved to just take the Champion and have my way with him, but I know that would do irreparable damage to our relationship."

"Why do you care what he feels? He's just a slave," Haxus muttered in return.

"The same reason you now feel like shit about your own slave right now. Because we care about our things. And if you ask me I don't want my things to be broken."

Haxus’ eyes widened.

"I have no use for a broken man as my bedmate and there is no joy in fucking a lifeless doll either. Broken toys are never fun to play with."

Haxus frowned. He had never looked at the girl the same way Sendak had looked at the Champion, but there was truth in the older galras words. Once he might have enjoyed breaking his “toy”, over and over, but not anymore. 

 

He wondered why.

 

\-----

 

It took two quintaints before Katie was in a good enough condition to be sent home.

She avoided his look the entire time and said nothing.

 

Her room was now filled with equipment and monitors, quintessence in tubes and containers. She was practically chained to the bed for most of the quintant.

And she still refused to eat.

It hurt to look at her, but he tried his best to cater to her needs, few as they were.  


 

“Is there anything I can get you, Katie?”

“I don’t want anything from you.” Her voice was so angry.

He sighed.

"I do not know how to convince you that I wish you no harm." He tried to sound sincere as he sat down on the bed beside her. He gently patted one of her legs, only for her to retract it out of reach.

He didn’t dare pat the other.

Silence stretched between them.

Katie shifted slightly, folding her hands in her lap.

"Do you remember that time my collar activated down in storage because someone pushed me in there on purpose?"

Haxus looked up at her, trying to recall the moment.

"Do you remember how long you kept shocking me even though you knew it wasn't my fault?"

Haxus swallowed. He remembered that. In hindsight not his greatest moment.

"One varga, twentythree doboshes and seven ticks. For being victim to someones elses cruel joke. I saw the time on the wall the entire time."

Haxus fiddled with his claws.

"That was eight phoebs ago. Less than two movements ago you raped me."

Her angry eyes glared at him.

"Are you trying to convince me that in less than two movements you have completely changed your view on me? That you now suddenly care? That the person you have kept captive and treated like the dirt under your boots for three deca-phoebs is someone that suddenly matters to you?" Her voice was bitter.

 

It was like being tossed three deca-phoebs back in time, to his time alone with her during the trip back to Central Command.

It had been only the two of them in that empty room for several quintants.

He had only left her alone to sleep and to do his necessities.

He had revelled in watching her small body squirm and convulce in pain as he repeatedly prodded her with the shock rod. Only stopping for the briefest of moments to let her catch her breath.

He had been merciless. Cruel. And he had enjoyed it. That quintant eight phoebs ago had been no different.

 

"I am going to give you three last words, Haxus." Her voice was so cold he for a moment was sure the temperature of the room had dropped below freezing.

“I. Hate. You.”

He looked at her for several ticks.

"I understand." He breathed out at last.

Then he walked out of her room quickly after.

 

\-----

 

Sendak showed up the quintant after.

Katie had improved over the night and could now stand on her own, and walk with support.

“It’s good to see you back on your legs, Green,” he said and gave her a courteous nod.

Katie merely shrugged in response, seemingly not caring for the concern given by he Right Hand of the Emperor.

Haxus had to help her walk all the way to the meeting room. When they arrived the Champion was walking back and forth, clearly agitated. And when he spotted Katie, he nearly ran towards them.

“Pidge!” he cried as he tossed his arms around her.

Haxus and Sendak stepped back and let them have their moment.

“Did you tell him about her current condition?”

“I had to. If he had found out now he would have become troublesome.”

Haxus hummed in agreement.

It was kinda odd seeing the Champion being so gentle with her. But she wasn’t smiling. She still looked as sad as the quintants before. Not like last time she saw her friend.

That worried him.

 

\-----

 

“Are you okay, Pidge? I couldn’t believe what Sendak told me.” He looked at her with such worry in his charcoal eyes.

Pidge merely shrugged.

She felt bad for making him worry.

“Do… do you want to talk about it?” Shiro helped her over to the bench.

Pidge didn’t really feel like talking about anything so she simply leant herself on his side, enjoying the warmth and calmness of his embrace.

Most of all she just wanted to cry.

She was going to cry.

She buried her face into the crook of his arm.

“Shiro?”

“Yes, Pidge?”

"I don't want to be an adult anymore."

"What do you mean?" Shiro couldn't hide the confusion in his voice.

Pidge lowered her voice to a whisper so low Shiro had to bend over completely to hear.

 

\-----

 

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

Haxus couldn't duck fast enough to avoid the punch that sent him straight to the floor.

"YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" The rage that emanated from the humans body was intense. His constant punches kept Haxus from gaining the upper hand and only when Sendak grabbed around the Champions chest with his prosthetic claws and forcefully lifted him away could Haxus get back on his feet. He brushed the blood trickling from his mouth away with the back of his hand, surprised the human had such incredible power in such small limbs. 

But he was the Champion, of course he was strong.

"Takashi, calm down!" Sendak barked.

"NO! NOT AFTER WHAT HE DID!" The Champion tried to wriggle free from his confine and Sendak had to tighten his hold substantially.

"YOU MONSTER!"

His yells were pained and harsh and Haxus had no doubt that if Sendak was not there he would have been in for a very serious fight. A fight he would have had to fight without being armed against a man who’s own body was a weapon.

The Champion held the title for a reason.

"HE DEFILED HER!" The Champions last scream was followed by a sizzling sound that rose in volume until the cuff on his right hand sparked before shattering away from the humans now brightly glowing galratech arm.

He broke the confinement cuff.

He BROKE the confinement cuff!

Haxus couldn't help the hackles rising on his neck in alarm.

"Oh quiznak," Sendak muttered as Haxus took a few steps back.

"I swear I am going to tear your dick off, Haxus! I am going to tear it off and make you EAT IT!" The eyes of the Champion were filled with seething rage, his usually calm face now twisted into a terrible grimace, and honestly the sight frightened him. To think those charcoal eyes could contain so much anger.

"...Sendak."Haxus tried not to sound afraid with the unspoken order.

"Takashi, I am giving you five ticks to calm down. Else I will start getting rough." Sendak tightened his hold and started to drag the Champion backwards.

"NO!"

"Haxus, get out." Sendak's voice was cold and Haxus backed off immediately, half sprinting to the door. Seconds later the lock was engaged and Haxus found himself looking into the room from the outside through the small window on the door.

 

\-----

 

"Takashi, I know you are mad, but killing him will not solve anything. What is done is done." Sendak released Shiro carefully, but the moment he was free he charged towards the door, arm lit and ready to strike.

Sendak shoot out his arm again grabbing him by an ankle, yanking him back.

"Takashi! Last chance!" Sendak snapped.

But Shiro ignored him, got up and bolted.

"Oh for fucks sake." Sendak groaned and instead of trying to grab him again, quickly pressed a few buttons on his cuff with the galratech arm.

Shiro froze mid step and sank down to the floor groaning. Every limb tensing up, as he froze in position with a snarl on his face and balled up fists.

Sendak had activated his control collar.

"Shiro!" Pidge cried out as she stumbled across the floor to them both.

"He's not injured." Sendak commented as he grabbed Pidge by her shoulder, flipping her around so she would face him.

"Now listen to me, girl. I do not agree with what your master did to you, but you should know that he deeply regrets it."

Pidge frowned.

"He is just too stupid to admit it to your face."

Pidge looked away. She didn't want to have this discussion, least of all with Sendak.

"I am not expecting you to forgive him." That grabbed her full attention and she looked back at him with a confused look.

"He took something from you that he can never give back, and that you will have to live with for the rest of your life. And I expect you to give him hell about it. Don't let him win."

Pidge was confused about the almost soft look on Sendak's face, but she gave him a small nod.

"Victory or death, little one." He let her go, but not before patting her head affectionately with his oversized paw.

She stumbled over to Shiro, looking over her shoulder towards Sendak.

Shiro was still out of it when Haxus reentered the room.

Sendak sighed.

“This is not going to to be fun when he wakes up.” Sendak hoisted Shiro up and over his shoulder as he headed to the door, leaving Pidge alone with Haxus.

 

\-----

 

"You said you would keep her safe! That was the deal!" Takashi’s fists kept hitting the commanders chestplate. Sendak just frowned at his pitiful display.

"She is not dead." He said it like it was obvious, which it was.

"You know what I meant!" Thinking back, it had been, but his mate had to understand he only had so much power over his best friends property.

"I tried talking him out of it."

"It obviously didn't work!" Takashi gave him one last strained hit on the metal that covered Sendak's chest.

"You let him do it! You let him hurt her!" No, he hadn’t. Takashi was beginning to be obnoxious now. His whining was starting to get to him.

"Takashi, listen to me, Haxus regrets what he did. He is trying to make it up to her." Haxus had been a fool and Sendak hoped he would turn around and try to do regain the honor he had lost.

"He can never make up for it! The damage is done. He has ruined her, for the rest of her life. ...you don't understand." His mate slipped down on the floor, burying his face in the crook of his knees. "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have trusted you. I failed all of them."

Sendak sighed annoyed.

"Stop blaming yourself for everything. You are only one person."

“If I had stayed at Earth instead of making them look for the Blue Lion we wouldn’t be here! WE WOULD ALL BE SAFE!”

“Takashi, let the past be past. It does you no well to dwell on it.”

“Then let me beat up that no good, piece of shit lieutenant of yours! Let me face him, one on one! On Pidge’s honor!”

"I am not going to toss you into the arena with Haxus."

"Why not!?"

"First of all because only the offended can demand a fight. That is the galra way. She herself would have to face him and we both know she would be decimated in the arena. Second because he is my best friend and you are my mate. Letting you fight would be ridiculous."

"So I am just going to sit here and let him hurt her!?"

"It is not your fight."

"The strong should protect the weak, Sendak!"

"The weak has no place in the Empire! Victory or death!" Sendak barked back at him

Takashi grit his teeth and looked away.

"The only reason she is even still alive is because Haxus grew attached to her. And the same goes for you. With me." Sendak lay his hand on his mate’s shoulder, but he brushed it off and stood.

"I'm going to bed."

Seeing him walk away so angry made him worry. He hoped he would calm down soon, but deep inside he knew his mate was one to dwell on his problems for way too long for what was considered healthy.

 

Humans really were so emotional.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is a short one.  
> It also marks the point where I am running out of half written chapters.  
> But do not worry, I have planned the story ahead, just need to write it down.


	11. Amends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haxus tries to make amends.

Haxus held the small drone in his hands. It was a decommissioned one, and therefore it had some flaws.

But maybe Katie would find it interesting.

It hadn't been difficult to acquire, but he had gotten some weird looks.

Why would anyone ever want a broken, useless drone anyway? Him being a commander didn't help. Well it did, but not against the stares.

Katie however, had a knack for making things work again. If she was allowed.

At some point one of the terminals in his office had broken down and while the others waited for it to be repaired, she had snuck her nimble fingers in between the panels and a few ticks later had somehow fixed it.

He had punished her then, for touching equipment without permission, and she had never tried to do so again. But broken things did tend to miraculously fix themselves in her vicinity. 

She wasn't stupid that was sure. It was just too much of a risk of letting someone who could reprogram sentries on the fly given the right tools near any kind of sensitive equipment.

Maybe it was a waste of her skills. But the Emperor's orders were clear.

The drone however posed no threat to anything. All it had left was a limited AI, not even connected to the main network, those parts had been removed. If repaired it would be nothing more than a docile pet.

It could keep her company.

  
\-----

 

He had her permanently moved to the couch in the living room.

The drip laced with quintessence administered into the bloodstream on her right arm glowed slightly in the dim light. The other arm flopped over her face, covering her eyes. She had become very light sensitive the last few days.

He held the drone behind his back as he approached her. She moved her arm away enough to glance at him.

The brief flash in her eyes surprised him.

"Your eyes... They glow."

"Why?" she replied curious.

"It's the quintessence. Exposure shows in ones eyes."

"I don't want to turn into one of you." She said, voice bitter as she closed her eyes shut, covering them up again.

"You will never become galra from quintessence." He replied, shaking his head at her foolishness.

"Maybe, but I don't want to become an addict."

He stared at her.

Was that how she saw the galra? Addicts of quintessence?

"It gives a long life. And we do not have a craving for it. It's not addictive."

"But if you stop taking it you die."

"The same goes for food."

"It's not the same. It's unnecessary."

"You would be dead without it."

"Maybe that would have been better."

"Don't say such things."

"I have nothing to live for," she mumbled and pulled the blanket over herself, looking away from Haxus.

Haxus took a deep breath and fiddled with the drone behind his back.

"I have something for you."

"But I am not sure if you would like it. It is not ill meant."

She cocks an eyebrow.

"Promise you will not be mad?"

"I promise nothing." She said bitter.

Haxus sighed. He didn't want a fight. Not now.

He held up the small drone.

For a moment it looked like she was going to yell at him.

But then tears poured down her cheeks and with trembling hands she took the drone from him.

"It's slightly broken." He said. "But if anyone can fix it, it would be you."

She nodded, holding the drone close to her chest for dear life, small fingers gripping the tiny metal pyramid tightly.

"I can give you tools later." He said and got up, heading to the kitchen.

"Do you want something to eat?" He knew it was a long shot, especially since she had denied the request the last two movements.

A few ticks passed by and then he heard the rustle of her blankets.

"Maybe a little."

 

\-----

 

She ate half a plate of food, and even though it was not much it was more than she had eaten in movements and Haxus was fine with that.

He couldn’t help smiling as he cleared the plates away.

He fetched some basic tools and less than a varga later, the drone, newly dubbed Rover II, was zooming around the room.

What a 'rover' was, Haxus had no idea, and when he asked she had told him it was a common name for dogs, which apparently was not much different than a yupper, just smaller.

"My family had a dog. He is probably dead now." She mused as she stared up at the drone buzzing above her head.

"Military life does not leave many options to keep pets." He shared his own musings.

"What am I to you?" She asked and he looked at her, unsure what to say.

"I'm not sure." Haxus rested his head in his hand, elbow on his knee.

"I own you, but I don't consider you a slave." Not anymore.

"Companion maybe?" He shrugged. "Never really thought about it." A lie.

She wrapped her arms around herself.

"Haxus?"

"Yes, Katie?"

"Why did you do that to me?"

He couldn't say he hadn't expected the question to pop up at some point, but so soon? No, he was not prepared.

He sighed deeply.

"I was stupid." So stupid.

"I had this idea of the perfect revenge that I had been feeding for years. I thought it would bring me fulfillment. But it turned out to be a nightmare instead."

"I didn't realise I cared for you before I hurt you so badly there was no way back."

"If I could go back and undo it I would."

She didn't say anything back and they sat in silence for a while.

"I can't forgive you." She eventually said.

"I don't expect you to,” he replied. He meant it too.

"I am not forgiving you for anything you have ever done to me." She sniffled, rubbing her eyes on her sleeve.

"Not expecting that either."

"You assaulted my friends. You almost killed Lance, me and Shiro. You hurt me for days and you made me your slave."

Haxus didn't know what to reply with so they sat in silence again.

“I know it is not enough, but I’m… I’m sorry…” It would never be enough. But he felt that he owed her enough to say it.

She didn't reply, only let her hair fall into her face. He half expected more tears, but he couldn't smell any.

“So, what now?” she suddenly asked.

Haxus shrugged.

“I don't know.”

Their conversation came to an abrupt end by a knock on the door and Haggar entered before Haxus could move from the couch.

“I have some information I think you should hear.”

Haxus rose from his seat, but was interrupted by Haggar. “Sit down. Both of you.”

Haxus sat down again rather confused.

“Paladin, while some would disagree I think you should be aware...” she paused and sighed. 

 

“...that you are pregnant.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well shit.
> 
> Also I know some of you foresaw this. It was bound to happen. Galra are just way too good at mating with other species.
> 
> Next chapter will take a bit longer due to the not so finished state as the earlier ones.


	12. Fertility

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge handles her new problem rather well, but runs into an unfriendly face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I updated the tags. Heed them.

Haxus swore out loud.

 

The world collapsed around Pidge.

 

She didn't want this.

This was even worse.

 

\-----

 

“High Priestess, are you sure?”

“Do you doubt me, Haxus? I can feel the very quintessence of the life growing inside her. No matter how primitive it might be at this stage.”

Haxus let go of a deep breath.

“I want an abortion.”

"What?"Her words caught him completely off guard.

“I have no intention of being the carrier of your child," Katie said determined.  


Haxus was not sure how to feel about that.

On one side having her carry his offspring would be a tremendous status symbol, proof that he was fertile and strong. And with a paladin of Voltron even. The Emperor himself would want to have great interest in that child.

On the other, if it pained her so much it would be cruel of him to make her carry to term.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"You don't want more time to think about it?" He asked carefully.

The glare she gave him was answer enough.

He nodded to her in answer and then turned toward the High Priestess.

“Will you be able to do this?”

“It should not be too difficult,” she hummed. “Very well. Meet me at the Hall of Mates tomorrow at 8 vargas.”

Haxus nodded and the High Priestess left.

“What is the Hall of Mates?” Katie asked.

“It is the place any females that are expecting kits would go. A large part of the galra army are made up of females and it is expected that some of them choose to carry. So the Hall of Mates was made to be a safe haven for pregnant females and their mates in the last weeks leading up to term.”

“Then why is she bringing me there?”

“Because they also have equipment should it be necessary to terminate a pregnancy, due to life threatening conditions or faults on the fetus.” 

Haxus sighed. “You will be treated well. The Matrons of the Hall does not turn away a mother, even if you are not galra.”

Pidge frowned and furrowed her brows.

“Will they try to talk me out of it?”

Haxus looked at her with pity in his eyes. She was fearing their judgement.

“No, they will not. Your choice is all that matters. They will not judge you. Especially not if the High Priestess is present.”

Pidge nodded, her mind seemingly lost in thought.

 

\-----

 

The morning after they both headed towards the heart of Central Command. Haxus had reprogrammed her collar to allow her access to the new area.

They got some odd stares as they walked through the halls, especially in this part of the ship, but Haxus didn’t care. 

Let them gawk.

The Hall of Mates was always a grand sight, and why wouldn’t it be? Being born in the very centre of the Galra Empire would be an honor to any soldier. While most of the children would be sent away to clan ships or colonies, to grow up safe from war, most would return to Central Command later in their lives to take part in the Empires grand quest for peace in the universe.

The entrance area to the Hall was flanked by two gigantic statues of a male and female galra, with children by their feet. Family was important in galra culture. Great families meant great strength, and the military and the Empire was just another big family. And family stuck together. And with no planet to call home, that family was even more important.

In a way Haxus could understand Katies frustration about her missing family. Who wouldn’t be? It would almost be easier if they had been dead. He had been tempted to say that out loud at some point, but had decided not to. He was glad he didn’t, as he lost his sister not long after and therefore had to feel what that actually felt like, and in that way gained her sympathy. Was it better in the long run? Perhaps. It did make it easier to focus knowing that at least his two other sisters were safe. But not knowing? It would be hell.

They walk into what you could call a reception area, with many doors lining the walls. Family members walked to and from while matrons mingled about talking to the soon to be mothers and fathers.

“Does not seem the High Priestess has arrived yet. Sit down and rest and I will hear with the matrons.” Haxus pointed Katie to a set of soft plump chairs and she sat down. She seemed to be handling all of this rather well considering the circumstances.

 

\-----

 

The chair was so big she almost disappeared in the plush pillows. Pidge huffed and folded her hands in her lap. She tried to push her thoughts away. At least it would be over soon.

Hopefully pain free.

She looked at the different people that mingled about. Most were galra, some were what she would call hybrids and others looked like nothing she had seen before. Some were wearing the same type of collar as her. They were of course not galra nor hybrids. She wondered if they had a choice in why they were here.

Her train of thought was interrupted by the chair next to her creaking as a gigantic galra just sat down into it.

She glanced over at him, a cybernetic eye similar to that of Sendak’s, but his body frame was much wider and stocky. He looked like someone who had been through hell and back and could crush her with his pinky. And of course he was wearing commander armor.

“So you are the Green Paladin. Thought you would be bigger,” the large galra said and snorted.

“Whatever,” she mumbled, crossed her arms and tried to sink further into the pillows. Maybe he would ignore her if he couldn’t see her.

He chuckled.

“You know, If I hadn’t been at the outer borders of the Empire you would have faced me instead of Sendak. I would not have been so lenient.”

“Well good thing we didn’t as we would have kicked your ass and sent the ashes back to Central,” Pidge spat back as snarky as she could.

The galra looked surprised before he barked out a laugh.

“You got guts, just like my many mates. I like that in women,” he chuckled. “But I must ask, what are you doing here in the Hall of Mates?” The mischievous look on his face told her he probably knew exactly why she was there.

Pidge said nothing, just tried not to let the urge to punch the guy in the face win through.

“Let me guess, Haxus has been giving you something more than lax obedience lessons?”

Pidge grit her teeth and dug her fingernails into her arms.

“You should feel honored that someone as great as commander Haxus would want to grant you kits, girl.”

“I didn't ask for it!” she cried out, probably turning a few heads in the process, as she stood up from her chair.

“Hmpf. Ungrateful brat.” The galra frowned and rose from his seat as well.

“Do you know what we do with ungrateful slaves, girl?” He crossed his arms across his massive chest.

“I am no ones slave!”

He chuckled smugly.

“Of course. What are you then?”

“I’m a paladin of Voltron!” Pidge cried out for the first time in three years. It felt good to say it out loud like that again.

The galra laughed and bent down towards her.

“You are nothing but Haxus’ little slut,” he said and grinned.

The next second her frail knuckles made impact with his face, right at his nose. He stumbled back, more from surprise than anything else.

“You little-!” he spat out and grabbed her wrist lifting her up.

“I am going to teach you what we do with little bitches like you,” he snarled into her face as she wiggled to get free. 

“What do you think you are doing!?” Haxus voice was angrier than she had ever heard it before.

“She attacked me first,” the galra said like it was a good argument for his actions.

“Are you insinuating that a weak little girl could do you harm, Ranveig?” Haxus spat back.

Ranveig snorted and dropped her. She hit the floor hard and barely managed to stay on her legs. Haxus quickly moved in between the two of them.

“Piss off, Ranveig, or I let the Emperor know you tried to destroy one of his ‘Untouchables’.”

Katie furrowed her brow at the word.  


Ranveig snorted but backed off, leaving them alone.

Haxus turned to Pidge immediately after.

“Are you hurt?” he said, worry in his voice.

“I hurt my wrist when I punched his nose,” she said and held it up.He huffed out a small laugh. 

“You tend to hurt that wrist a lot.” It took her a few seconds to remember what he was referring to. It made her frown and he seemed to notice as his friendly smile disappeared quickly after to be replaced with a neutral expression.

“I will make sure the matrons have a look at it when the High Priestess arrives. She was delayed due to some issues with an experiment.”

Not long after Haggar showed up and waved them to a door. They walked down a richly decorated corridor lined with murals that depicted galra family scenes.

It made Pidge uncomfortable.

Haggar showed them to a room, that unlike most of the rest of Central Command, was bathed in a bright almost white light. It was filled with electrical equipment of all kinds and in the middle was an operating table that actually looked comfortable. Not that she was eager to get onto it.

“Now, paladin, we will do this as simple as possible so lay down.” Haggar patted the table and headed to a monitor close by.

She panicked for a second when Haxus grabbed her below the armpits and lifted her onto the table.

“It will be painless, but you will need to take it slow for the next few quintants. A galra pregnancy does different things to your body than one of your own species does.” Haggar said and made a small sigh. Why did it sound like she had experience?

“Lay down.” Pidge obeyed and tried to make herself comfortable.

Haggar reached out her hand and placed two fingers on Pidges forehead.

“Sleep,” she said and Pidge suddenly felt very sleepy. 

She tried not to fight it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be up in a few days time.


	13. Disgust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranveig never got the memo on "things you do not talk to co-workers about".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A rather short chapter, sorry!
> 
> Also small warning, the talk in this chapter is extremely gross.

She looked so peaceful while asleep, Haxus thought. It's not like he hadn’t seen her asleep before, but this was a big change from her angry expression from before.

“Now commander, I would prefer it if you left the room. This needs my full attention and it would be disastrous if you distracted me," Haggar said as she arranged different metallic instruments on a nearby table.

“Of course.” Haxus saluted and left as several matrons clad in medical garbs entered the room.

He looked over his shoulder one last time as the matrons began to carefully undress her. For a moment he was hit by a massive feeling of shame. He knew her bruises and scratches from his 'revenge’ would be healed by now, if not by time, they would definitely be so from all the quintessence she had been treated with. But he still felt like the matrons knew he had hurt her.

Katie was wrong to worry about being judged. The matrons were judging him, not her.

And the feeling was terrible.

He averted his gaze and walked determined back to the reception area.

 

\-----

 

He sat down into one of the plump chairs and folded his hands.

But his rest did not last long as Ranveig decided to sit down next to him just as he had done to Katie.

“What do you want?” Haxus snarled.

“I would never have thought you were one to enjoy the young ones,” Ranveig said with a toothy grin.

“I don’t. Katie is a grown woman,” Haxus said back calmly, but with ice on his tongue.

“You jest. Don't come here and tell me you didn't think about doing her in all those deca-phoebs.”

Haxus growled. “I am not a depraved fiend like you!”

“Too bad, I wouldn't mind sharing one of mine with you. Seeing them service someone else is always a turn on.” Haxus bared his fangs in disgust at the offer.

“My oldest is over there,” Ranveig lazily waved towards a group of matrons surrounding a rather small looking foreign species that was answering questions. “I’ll get a good litter off her eventually. She just need to get old enough. Until then she is decent entertainment.” Ranveig closed his fist. “Tight like a vice.” Haxus felt his eyebrows twitch in frustration over the other commander's complete lack of tact. He did _not_ need to hear this info.

“They cry and whimper, but in the end they always enjoy it.” Ranveig licked his lips. “Did she beg you to continue when you were inside her?”

Haxus pulled out his sword and whipped out of his chair towards the commander.

“One more word from you and I will make sure you never sire kits again.” Haxus growled the words through gritted teeth, fangs bared, as he pressed the sword tip towards the commanders crotch. Ranveig merely chuckled, deeply amused. “Bold words from a second rate commander.”

They were interrupted before either of them could say anything next.

“Commanders! This is not the place to duke out your differences!” A matron had walked up to them and she was not pleased. “Break it up or we will force you to leave.” The fur on her neck bristled in anger, ears flat against her head, and Haxus knew better than to anger a female with kits and mothers present. He moved his sizzling sword from Ranveig's crotch, ignoring the slightly singed undersuit. Ranveig merely huffed and stepped back, walking over to his very clearly underage mate.

Haxus felt filthy and he got a sudden urge to scrub himself clean of all the disgusting things Ranveig had told him.

It had made him sick. Sick to the core.

 

\-----

 

Haxus spent the rest of the time waiting on the opposite side of the room from Ranveig. He tried to ignore seeing the brute of a galra running his grubby claws over a very clearly underage slave. He knew enough rumors of Ranveigs specific tastes, but to see it up close was nothing but absolutely disgusting!

Where did the brute even find these slaves? Were they from the planets he conquered? Or did he frequent slave markets like one would browse a market for food?

Haxus was tempted to report him for ...something!

His fur bristled at the thought of it all.

Maybe he should have driven his sword through Ranveigs crotch after all. He would surely not be missed?

 

\-----

 

It took a varga more before Haggar exited one of the doors and walked up to him.

“Commander, the operation was a success. She is resting and will be sent to your quarters shortly. Allow her to sleep for as long as she deems necessary.”

“Yes, High Priestess.”

“I am also relieving you of your duty until she is back at peak health. You will protect her until then.”

Haxus stared at her confused.

“What do you mean? Could that work not be delegated to a group of sentries if it regards her security? I surely have more important matters to attend than guarding a human slave?”

“The paladin is more important than you will ever understand. Guard her with your life, do not let her out of your sight, or I will make sure the Emperor permanently demotes you.”

Haxus swallowed.

“Yes, High Priestess. I will do what is in my power to keep her from harm.” Haxus said and saluted.

Well that was a turn of events.

While he didn't mind the free time, being reduced to the girls bodyguard, or worse, servant, was not exactly what he would he like to be known for. But it was this or risk demotion.

…or worse.

 

Alas, anything for the Empire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't think I could make anyone be worse than Haxus did ya?
> 
> Also Haxus is having some conflicting thoughts on the end here.


	14. Abandonment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haxus is learning more and more about Pidge and his own actions towards her.

Pidge woke up gradually. First came sounds, then light, and then her body decided it could move again. It felt like she had taken a sledgehammer to the chest.

She was back in her bed in her tiny room. The same grey walls and ceiling.  Rover II hovering up in the ceiling silently. At least the light was set to the lowest setting.

She sighed and pushed her legs off the bed and staggered out the door.

Haxus was sitting by the kitchen table in his civilian clothes, a pad in his hand as he ate what looked to be breakfast. He turned an ear towards her as she stumbled towards the bathroom.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Fine,” she lied. She didn't want to talk to him right now.

He hummed in response and focused back on his food.

Pidge halted on the doorstep.

“Aren’t you supposed to be working today?” she asked. She knew his schedule very well.

“No, I have been given some time off.”

That was odd.

She stumbled into the bathroom and freshened up a little before heading out to join him by the table.

He pushed a large plate in her direction with one of her favorite breakfast dishes. The galra equivalent of scrambled eggs and toast. Not that it looked anything like it.

She tried to eat some of it. Her stomach felt somehow empty, but she didn’t want to think about it. Or yesterday or anything related to it.

But there was something she could not forget.

“You called me an “Untouchable” to Ranveig, what does that mean?” Katie asked.

Haxus looked up from the pad and stared at her, seemingly thinking about the answer.

“It means the Emperor has decreed your life to be important and that you are to be protected from harm,” he replied and looked back down onto the pad.

“Since when did he ‘decree’ this?”

“When you tried to commit suicide.”

Pidge frowned and furrowed her brows.

“You got free time to make sure I don't harm myself again, didn't you?”

Haxus turned to her, a serious look on his face, not angry, just serious.

“That might be one of the reasons. But also ensure no one else harms you.”

“So you will be my bodyguard? Huh, how the tables have turned.” She breathed out a halfhearted chuckle.

“But you can save yourself the trouble. I’m not a little girl anymore. And I am not weak.”

“A three meter tall galra picked you up like you weighed nothing yesterday, what makes you think you would stand a chance against any other?” He scoffed.  


“I’m a paladin!”

 

\-----

 

Haxus sighed and rolled his eyes.

He was afraid of this. She would get bold and become full of herself.

“Katie, I admire your tenacity, but physically you do not stand a chance against a galra.”

“I beat you.”

He scowled.

“I underestimated you. Something I have not done since.”

“Except when I almost died.”

Haxus sighed.

“I did not expect you to do something so foolish. I honestly thought you were smarter than that and would find a way to overcome your grief.”

She scowled at him. He seemed to have hit a nerve.

“You are a jerk.”

“I guess I am.”

“So all that talk two quintants ago, did you mean it?”

Haxus frowned.

“I guess I did. But it would be nice if you did not use that against me. Do not make me regret treating you nicely these last few movements.”

“Fine,” she said and stuffed a large piece of bread into her mouth. It looked rather comical and it made him smile.

“What?” she mumbled through her stuffed full mouth.

“Nothing.”

 

\-----

 

The next few quintaints crawled by slowly. They spent the time taking walks around the ship or browsing items in the shop quarter. Haxus bought a new set of colored pens for Katie, after she picked out which colors she wanted, and a new drawing pad with a bit more sturdy paper.

Haxus didn’t mind the expense if it kept her occupied and happy.

But the highlight of the trips were the visits to the gardens. Rooms filled with plantlife that had been collected from Daibazal before its demise. Kept thriving on quintessence enriched soil and artificial sunlight.  


He hadn’t visited these places in hundreds of years, but seeing the vivid plantlife filling spaces the size of spaceship hangars was quite a sight.

And Katie seemed spellbound every time.

She skipped over low hanging branches and thick gnarly roots to better have a look at everything. In this room the purple metal glide seamlessly over into shrubs and roots, into leaves and grass. The flora had every color of the rainbow. Large disc shaped leaves, red hanging moss, bright purple grass, yellow roots. To mention some.

He almost lost sight of her in the wilderness, but quickly located her next to a small pond.

“I would not recommend you stick your fingers in there,” he told her. "The fish can be quite bitey."  


But then he noticed she had frozen, her eyes staring through a rather large pink fern to the other side of the pond.

A galra was seated there, legs crossed, wearing a very specific set of white and green armor. She seemed to be meditating.  


The galra cracked open an eye and stared at Katie.

“Commander Ladnok,” Haxus gave her a light salute as the galra woman rose to a stand.

“Commander Haxus, ” Ladnok said and saluted equally light back and giving a curt nod to Katie. " _Former_ Green Paladin."  


Katie flinched at the use of her title and Haxus walked up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder firmly. He felt this could go bad quickly.

“I see the Green Lion finally found a suitable replacement,” Haxus stated.

“Yes, it took quite some time. It has been a few movements since, but the Emperor has yet to make it official.”

He could feel Katie shake beneath his hand.

“I try to spend some time here and deepen my distanced connection to the Lion. I am after all the Guardian of The Forest now,” she said with a light laugh.

Haxus hummed in response. He did not know enough about how the Lions worked for him to doubt her. He should ask Katie about that later, she had hands on experience after all.

“About that, perhaps the former paladin would be willing to share experience?” Ladnok said and turned to Katie, tilting her head in a questioning manner. “I would assume the Emperor would agree to it.”

Katie opened her mouth to answer, but quickly shut it again, before turning and walking away from them.

“Katie?” Haxus asked as the girl walked off. He turned back to Ladnok again.

“I think now is a bad time. But I can see if she is interested at a later time?” Haxus said and turned to follow Katie, lest he lose sight of her.

“That would be acceptable,” Ladnok replied and bowed her head in farewell. Haxus bowed as well and set off after the girl.

She had managed to evade his sight, but he could still smell her.

He found her sitting inside a hollowed out tree stump, the bright red bark a stark contrast to her own colors. The tears that trailed down her cheeks were also a contrast to her happy mood from earlier. He was smart enough to understand that these tears were not caused by injury.

“Katie,” Haxus squatted down next to her, he tried to keep his voice and face neutral as not to frighten her. He reached out his hand and carefully grasped her smaller one, taking care not to cut her with his claws.

She sobbed, but eventually she cleared her throat.

“A few movements ago, before I tried to kill myself,” she took a deep breath. “I felt my bond with Green becoming weaker.”

Haxus widened his eyes.

Oh.

“It became weaker and weaker until it was gone. I didn’t have the strength to hold onto it,” she tried to dry her tears. “And when it was gone, all of the bad stuff, the things you did to me, it became too much. I couldn’t handle it.” She sobbed loudly, her hands trembling in her lap.

“One of the first quintants here you told me I was weak. Since then I haven’t been able to prove the opposite. I AM weak.” She grit her teeth.  


The sympathy in Haxus’ heart ached.

He had called her weak. And yes, physically she was weak, but her spirit was one of the strongest he had ever seen. He had never managed to break her completely.

“You are not weak, Katie, you are not weak in the ways that matter,” he said and for the first time he reached out his hand and placed it on her head affectionately. He patted her silky hair gently and to his surprise he felt her lean into his touch.

He sat down next to her, letting her lean onto his arm and shoulder and they sat there for a while in silence, nothing but the sounds of the artificial wind rustling the leaves and grass.

 

He had taken almost everything from her. 

 

Question now was whether he was willing to give her anything back.


	15. Loss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How to Lose Everything

A few quintants later and Katie had calmed down again and they ended up back in their quiet cycle.

Both seated on the couch in their quarters, Haxus on his pad and Katie with her paper.

The slight rumble going through the ship signaled for yet another hyperjump. The inhabitants of Central Command were used to the slight vibrations a jump caused and gave it no heed.

“Where are we heading?” Katie had made it to kind of a game, her latent curiosity stirring to the surface, and she would always ask him about the destination. And he had indulged, every time the ship moved, for three deca-phoebs.

“Let me see.” Haxus tapped away on his pad, finding the destination with ease.

He skimmed through the coordinates, looking for the system name.

When he found it it felt like his blood turned to ice.

“Haxus? What system?” Katie asked again, cocking an eyebrow at his hesitance.

“Sol system, Earth,” he said quietly.

It was like all color drained from her face. Fear filled her eyes.

And then she bolted towards the door and hammered on the door lock until it slid open.

“Katie!” Haxus threw himself out of the couch and ran after her.

He barely glimpsed her running around a corner before storming down the hall.

There was only a few areas she was allowed to go so he assumed she was heading for the nearest window out into space that happened to be angled towards the front of Central Command.

He found her there, both hands on the cold glass, staring out into space and the planet in front of them.

It was large, covered in bright blue oceans with green and beige clad continents and two white poles. It looked like an intricate glass marble.

“So this is Earth,” he mumbled. “It is quite pretty.”

She nodded, but her full concentration was on the planet below.

“Why are we here?” she asked, eyes locked on the planet.

He tapped away on his wrist pad to find the destination info.

“It doesn't say.” He frowned. It was highly irregular to make jumps to locations without stating reasons of visit.

However, Katie’s whole body language beamed of happiness in seeing the planet, and he decided he could give her this.

“Do you want to stay here and watch for awhile?”

“Yes, please.” She said, still with her eyes glued to the blue planet.

He leant himself against the wall and observed her and the planet.

Eventually she sat down and crossed her legs, still fixated.

Haxus had been born in space, on a larger clan family ship, so he couldn't relate to her longing after a steadfast location, but in spirit all Galra longed for the beloved ancestral home of Daibazal. But he had never been one to feel the urge of feeling wind in ones fur, or sand beneath his feet, like some of the oldest galra did, those who had once lived on Daibazal.

He personally prefered the cleanliness and steady temperatures aboard galra ships.

They stayed like this for what felt like a varga, before he spotted a shuttle approach Central Command.

“That looks like the Emperor's personal shuttle,” Haxus said more to himself than to Katie.

“What has he been doing on Earth?”

“Meeting with your worlds leaders for Earth’s surrender perhaps?”

It took a few doboshes and then the shuttle left Central Command again.

Haxus frowned, something odd was going on.

When the shuttle arrived back at Central Command a second time and the whole ship started moving, the usual vibrations indicating a hyperjump were absent, Haxus started to feel his hackles rising.

Something was wrong. Very very wrong.

With Central Commands new position one could barely see the planet below the belly of the ship.

And then, out of thin air, dark energy trailed along the ships hull. It slithered downwards towards the planet below.

“What is going on?” Katie asked.

“The Komar.” Haxus swallowed.

“The what?” Katie looked up at him confused.

“Katie, we should go back to our quarters.”

“What? Why? What is going on?”

“Just trust me. Come.” He grabbed her wrist in the intention of pulling her with him, but she fought back.

“No! I want to know what they are doing to Earth!”

“Please, Katie. It is not worth it. You should not see this.” He begged her.

He was interrupted by blinding light. It filled the whole window and blocked out all view of the planet.

“Is… is that quintessence?” she said with shaking voice.

“...yes.”

Katie shook her head.

“No, no nononono NO!” She started to ramble, her fingers clawing on the glass.

“You have to tell them to stop!” She sounded so desperate, her eyes were filled with panic.

“I cannot stop them.” He said and he meant it. There was no way he could stop the Komar even if he had the clearance.

 

Earth was doomed.

 

And so was every living being on it as well.

 

When the quintessence stream ended, and the remains of the planet were revealed, Katie collapsed on the floor.

The blue and greens of the planet were gone.

Nothing but brown and dull grey remained.

 

An empty husk.

 

And then to Haxus’ horror he felt the ship move again. A move he knew only resulted in one thing.

 

“Katie, I beg you, we should go home.” Haxus bent down and closed his fist around Katie’s arm, wanting to pick her up, but he wanted her to give him his permission to do so.

She seemed to be in shock and he let go of her.

 

When the ion cannon starting charging Katie seemed to understand what was happening.

She scrambled up on two and before Haxus could react she bolted down the hallway.

“KATIE!” Haxus stormed after her.

In a straight line he would easily be able to catch up to her, but she was traversing the ship by running zig zag through the halls, moving around corners a lot faster than he could.

He started to recognise the path she was taking.

“Katie! Listen to me!” Haxus cried out to her as she saw her round another corner. “You don’t have access! You will be stunned!” He yelled that as she stormed towards the large doors that indicated the bridge. And fate would have it that an officer opened the door about to walk out, and barely had a tick to look at the enraged human that rushed past him moments later.

She got five meters past the door and onto the bridge before the collar did its job, locking up her muscles and sending her straight to the floor, her body slid another two meters before coming to a halt.

“Katie!” Haxus finally caught up with her and dropped to his knees next to her. She seemed unharmed from the fall, but bruises were destinied to form.

Tears were flowing freely however and Haxus quickly understood why as he turned to see what Katie was looking at.

The large bridge windows were pointed at the planet, now nothing more molten rock and pieces of crust floating silently through space.

“What is the meaning of this, commander Haxus?!” Haxus looked up at Prorok who looked less than pleased with having a human slave and a off-duty commander on his bridge.

“Forgive this disturbance, commander Prorok. The Emperor’s Untouchable simply disagreed with the destruction of her home planet.” Haxus said, with a hint of spite in his voice.

Prorok huffed.

“And your excuse for entering the bridge dressed like this?” Prorok jabbed a thick clawed finger at Haxus’ chest.

“I happened to be off-duty when The Emperor’s Untouchable decided to go ahead and I did not have the necessary time to locate my armor.” Haxus nearly snarled. He had never liked Prorok. He always seemed like a commander that had grown fat and complacent in his job and was simply milking it for all it was worth, hiding behind a mask of “honor and tradition”. And he tended to be a great opportunist which made it even worse.

Prorok huffed again.

“Get off my bridge.” Prorok said with a dismissing wave and turned his back to them. The other officers only gave them slight glances as Haxus gently lifted Katie up into his arms, which was not exactly easy as her limbs were locked in stiff positions. But he eventually managed to carry her with him off the bridge.

 

\-----

 

The walk back was uncomfortable.

He could hear her low sobs and strained breathing the whole way, and the both of them had to suffer through the stares and quiet whispers of the passerbys.

When they arrived back at their quarters she had started to get some motion back in her limbs. He laid her on the couch and fetched a chair for himself.

He didn't say anything, only looked at her in silence, as her body finally regained control of itself.

 

He was not sure if he felt pity for her or for the trouble he was sure he was in.

 

He sighed.

 

"I am sorry, Katie."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry Pidge!
> 
> Why Earth was destroyed will be explained in the side stories with Shiro's and Lance's point of view.
> 
> Also want to point out that Pidge has gained clearance to a lot in Central Command due to following Haxus around when he works, which is usually in the offices near the bridge, which explains why she even managed to get that far without being zapped.


	16. Frustrated Curiosity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haggar is frustrated and Sendak is curious.

It was like turning time back several movements.

Katie was back to being mute, barely leaving her room, and barely eating. At least he was not to blame this time.

On one side Haxus was really worried for her, one the other side he was furious. Not at her, gods forbid, but at whoever had made the order to destroy the planet.

But he was also mad at himself, for not trying hard enough to stop her from seeing the planets destruction.

 

He let his fury win and decided to go and file a complaint.

 

He found Haggar in the labs and he wasted no time getting to the point.

“How am I supposed to keep the paladin alive when you undermine my efforts!” he barked out at her.

Haggar turned, slumped her shoulders and sighed.

“Our Emperor had a... small fit, and the consequences turned out to be rather unpleasant.” Haxus cocked an eyebrow. It was very unlike the High Priestess to admit to the Emperor having any kind of flaws.

“I have a feeling it has affected more than just the green paladin?” Haxus asked, curious.

“Unfortunately yes. The Blue Paladin, the Emperor’s pet as you are aware, took the destruction of his home planet quite badly and is showing symptoms similar to those previously experienced by the Green Paladin,” she said and walked over to one of the many monitors littering the lab. “Due to his degrading health, the Emperor’s mood has been shifting and he is currently quite difficult to manage.” Haggar sighed again. “Which again causes me a great deal of trouble.” Haxus could imagine the Emperor’s mood being uncomfortable even at the best of times.

“I guess the question is then, what can we do to change it? Even Sendak reports the Champion becoming rather difficult to deal with right now.”

“Humans have turned out to be a most difficult specie to handle. Their psyche is more complicated than I anticipated.” She moved over to yet another screen, tapping away.

“Where is the Paladin by the way? I hope you did not leave her unguarded?”

“I Ieft her with Sendak. I trust him with my life and I know he will not intentionally hurt her.”

Haggar huffed. “Could be worse I guess,” she muttered.

Another screen and then she hummed to herself. “Perhaps what they need is each other?” Haxus flicked an ear at that.

“What do you mean?”

“They are a social specie, are they not?”

“I assume so.”

“Then maybe a bit of socialising with their own kind could help.”

Haxus had to think about it. “Yes, perhaps. She did show improvement when she got to meet the Champion again. She always seemed to perk up.”

Haggar nodded. “I will talk with the Emperor and see if we can arrange a meeting. You should prepare the Paladin for an audience with the Emperor very soon.”

With that said, Haxus saluted and turned on his heel.

  
  


Making Katie meet with the Emperor personally was not exactly what he considered safe for her, but maybe having her meet the Blue Paladin would make up for it.

 

\-----

 

Pidge laid crawled up in the corner of the couch. Sendak sat by the kitchen table, slowly sipping on a drink.

“I don't understand why you have to be here,” she muttered into the nearest pillow.

“The Emperor does not want to risk anything with how vulnerable you are right now.”

“I don't need a babysitter.”

“I agree, but Haxus asked me, so I will.”

Pidge snorted.

“I hope you understand I have nothing against you, Green.”

“Too bad since I hate you.” She hated him so much.

“That is unfortunate. I quite admire your complete lack of fear. You have gone up against foes much larger and much more powerful than yourself. Not exactly wise, but admirable.” Pidge snorted again. “Had you been galra you would have been placed in a special forces class because of your fearlessness. You could have become an formidable fighter. Your intellect would have helped greatly too.”

“Good thing I am not galra then.”

Sendak sighed.

“I am trying to praise you.”

“Keep it to yourself!” Pidge sat up in the couch and turned to him. “Nothing of what you are telling me will help me! I am stuck in this hellhole until I die! So what is the fucking point!”

Sendak frowned.

“You have your life.”

“Ah yes, my life. I can do so much with it. I can use it to grovel at Haxus’ feet, I can use it to do pointless tasks over and over and over again until I die of old age. Or perhaps Haxus decides he wishes to rape me again just for fun! Such a great existence!” Her tone was dripping with sarcasm and she did not try to hide it.

Did this wandering purple rug not understand that it was all pointless?

Sendak frowned further.

 

\-----

 

“I have absolutely fucking nothing to live for.”

Sendak opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it.The girl only had herself to care about and that became glaringly obvious to him now.

To live just to live, with no goal in life, he could not imagine himself enjoying that either. He himself had goals in life; strengthen the Empire, serve the Emperor, never surrender.

He could never imagine wanting to do that for a person he despised.

Slaves always endured on the vague hope of freedom. And some of them did earn their freedom. But she? She would never be free. Her place as a Paladin of Voltron forever cemented her future as an enemy. An enemy that could never be free.

She had nothing. 

There was no future. It’s not like she could just pack up and leave.

When he opened his mouth again he choose his words carefully.

“The only one who can give you a reason to live is yourself. But your friends are still alive and I believe they would miss you dearly if you decided to leave them behind.”

He knew she cared about her friends and perhaps it was a big enough carrot to keep her going.

The girl huffed and crawled up in the corner again.

 

They lapsed into silence.

 

“Can I ask you something? It is rather personal,” Sendak asked, tired of the emptiness.

“You sure are inquisitive today,” she quipped  back.

“What would you have done if you were not here, in this situation?”

The girl sat up.

“Quite the philosopher hmm?”

The girl took a few moments to think.

“I would have acquired a ship and then I would explore, see new worlds, known and unknown. It was what I dreamt of back on Earth,” she said and rested her chin on top of her knees.

Sendak hummed approving.

Exploring the universe was a noble goal. He could get behind that.

“We had barely left our own solar system when we encountered the Empire.”

“Maybe I could convince Haxus to join me on a few excursions. I do miss his company.”

The girl gave him an incredulous look.

“I’m not sure I want to see your planet conquering skills up close.”

“It's not all violence,” Sendak huffed.

“Oh really?” She cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Sometimes I simply need to remind systems of their place in the Empire. Usually my mere presence is sufficient.” He grinned.

“I’m not sure I would be scared of a lopsided purple rug,” she teased.

“I am  _ not _ lopsided,” he huffed.

“Yes you are. It looks like you just need a small push and that giant hand of yours will do the rest.”

Sendak scowled at her joke, but a smile tugged at his lips, even if he would never admit it.

“This.” He held up his galratech arm. “This is the Fist of the Empire, with which I crush our enemies. It brings fear in our foes at the mere sight! It does  _ not _ make me lopsided!”

“Didn't scare me.” The girl grinned triumphantly which made Sendak snort.

“No, it did not. You decided to charge me head on instead. You truly are fearless.”

“Almost sounds like you’re impressed?” She grinned again.

“And what if I am? You are a tiny creature with seemingly endless amount of energy, tenacity and wit, which have survived against all odds, so yes I am impressed. Both you and my mate keep surprising me to no end.” Sendak sighed.

“Sometimes I wonder if the Empire should have invested in having you bred. The results could have been interesting. I try imagine what visuals a human galra hybrid would have.” Sendak scratched his furry throat absentmindedly and looked over at the girl who had jumped to her feet and taken a few steps away from him.

He was not prepared to see her face drenched in tears, her hands on her stomach.

“Did I say something wrong?” He looked at her and tried to string the facts together. And when he realised and his heart sank, he inclined his head in sympathy.

“My apologies. It was not my intention to bring forth any bad recollections. Especially not one as ...delicate.” 

He felt uncomfortable. 

He had sired enough kits to countless females in his life to understand both reasons for wanting and not wanting to bear them to term. Especially for someone she hated.

He had been tactless.

He walked up to her placed his flesh hand on her shoulder and rubbed it soothingly.

“I know I might not be the best suited for this, but if you need to talk to someone, other than Haxus that is, then I am available.”

She gave him a small nod.

“The positive side of being a few millennia old is getting a wide variety of experience,” he gave her a warm fond smile. She gave him a small sad smile in return.

“Even if said experience is mostly related to warfare.”He cleared his throat at that and she gave him a small giggle. Made him smile in return.

 

He really did like this girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have always considered canon Sendak to be honorable. He fights one on one and he always gives a chance of surrender. Even if he can be a brutal asshole. So therefore I think he could be an ok person outside his job. And I think he could have been a cool uncle if he was ever forced to be around kids.
> 
> Next up we will finally meet Lance!


	17. The Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The calm before the storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is very short mostly because I am not finished with the rest and I just wanted to give you something.  
> Next chapter will most likely not be done before end of June due to a big convention I need to prepare for that will eat most of my time.
> 
> Also sorry, no Lance this time after all!
> 
> But next time, I promise.

“Katie, the Emperor wishes to talk to you,” Haxus said as he stepped back into their quarters. Sendak was leaning against the kitchen counter, resting his cheek in his remaining hand, seemingly dozing.

“You’re joking?!” Katie bursted out. It woke Sendak up, who looked around in alarm.

“I am not.” He held up his pad so she could see. The document with the confirmed date and time had the Emperor’s seal and everything. Haggar had been most efficient arranging it.

“But… What does he want with me?”

“That will be between you and him.” Haxus could tell her what it was about, but he feared she would start scheming, coming up with demands instead of just accepting it as the gift it was. Better to let it be a short shock and leave it at that.

Haxus walked over to her and kneeled in front of the couch. He took her small hands in his and looked her straight in the eyes.

“Can you promise me that you will try to avoid making him angry?” He held her hands firmly, even when it looked like she would want nothing more than to pull them away.

Katie frowned and looked away with a pout.

“Katie, look at me. Please. He can hurt you a lot worse than I ever could. And unlike me he can kill you if he feels like it. And it will not be pain free.”

She sighed in defeat.

“Fine,” she said. “When is it?”

“Tomorrow. We must make sure you look respectable and that you arrive in good time.”

“What a hassle.” She tsked.

“Nothing more than you are used to. But you should take care when addressing him.”

“Not even I can interrupt the Emperor without fearing the repercussions,” Sendak said from the kitchen. “You would do well in listening to what Haxus says, Green.”

Katie frowned.

“Stop calling me that, I am not the Green Paladin anymore.”

Sendak frowned.

“You will always be the Green Paladin to me, no matter who they put in that green mechanical cat,” Sendak said with a scoff.

She put a pout on her face again and huffed, but she couldn't hide a smile. Sendak just gave her a small grin back.

 

What had they been doing while he was gone?

 

\-----

 

Haxus took Katie to a furdresser to do something about her now way too long mane. Her hair looked nothing like it had done those deca-phoebs ago. It was starting to become quite unruly and he was tired of finding long brown hairs everywhere. He was just happy they were not sharing brushes.

Katie wasn’t too happy about it, but the galra furdresser got the job done eventually, and like most galra he was fascinated over the silky smooth texture of her fur.

Her finery needed few alterations so apart from shining up the crystals and metal details, and a small round with a good clothesbrush, little else needed to be done.

Haxus wanted her to make a good impression, would her looks ever be used to judge him, but he doubted he would see any repercussions should she end up not being up to galra standards.

He just wanted for her to look neat. Neat and tidy.

 

\-----

 

Haxus slipped an elastic hair tie around the base of her ponytail and let the hair cascade down her neck.

He couldn’t hide the fact that this all kind of scared him.

He was afraid she would go into the throne room and never exit. Either by death or to be kept by the Emperor himself.

 

And then he would be alone.

 

It was very egoistical of him to think this way, but how could he not feel lonely with her away?

She had after all kept him company for three deca-phoebs.

 

Maybe she really was more than a slave to him.  
Could he consider her a pet?  
Or maybe something as outrageous as ...family?

 

He let his claws rake through her hair one last time to work out any tangles and stepped away from her.

 

“It is time to go.”


	18. Lies and Deceit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is living in a carefully constructed bubble of lies. A bubble that is about to pop.

Last time Pidge saw Zarkon this close was the day she arrived at Central Command. And she hadn't really been able to focus much on him then. She had seen him now and then since, during parades, on TV and other public speakings.

But this was close.  _ Very _ close.

Haxus led her to the elevator that would take them to the throne room and together they stepped onto the platform that slowly brought them upwards.

Pidge could not avoid thinking about how it felt the first time she had taken this elevator. How brutal Haxus had been, the chain he pulled her around in, the humiliation.

The memory scared her more than the upcoming meeting with the universe's baddest bad guy.

The throne room was as cavernous as she could remember, the ceiling so high up she could barely see it. The gigantic windows that surrounded them and that probably acted as screens as well were currently dark and ominous. And the throne itself. The very definition of a superiority complex, the whole damn wall covered in roughly hewn black rock with an enormous container of quintessence dab right in the middle just to drive in the point of how much power he was holding.

You would have to look far for something so blatantly over the top.

Zarkon was in power and he was not afraid to flaunt it.

 

\-----

 

Haxus walked her closer, almost up to the dais. As he went down on a knee and saluted, Katie knelt and let her head touch the floor, just as she had been taught. 100% obedience.

“My Lord, I have brought the Green Paladin,” Haxus said and gestured towards the girl.

“Obviously.” Haxus nearly flinched at the almost annoyed tone from the Emperor. He couldn't really help the slightly taken aback look on his face however. He knew the Emperor's mood would be foul, but this was a whole new level.

“Leave,” the Emperor made a small wave towards him and Haxus saluted again and turned on the spot, walking briskly down the catwalk.

When he passed the girl he gave her a small glance and prayed that she would not come to harm.

 

\-----

 

Not before Haxus was on the elevator did Zarkon speak.

“Do you know why you are here?” His voice was dark and booming, and it sounded tired somehow.

Pidge shook her head.

Zarkon hummed in reply.

“I am in need of your services, simple as they may be.” Zarkon rose from the throne and walked down a few of the steps of the dais, his armored boots clanking noisily against the metal floor.

“The Blue Paladin,” he took a pause and Pidge's heart took a leap. “...has fallen ill. Not much different than what you experienced not long ago.” Pidge raised an eyebrow. Was Lance depressed?

“Haggar believes allowing you to socialise will help on his condition.”

“We are quite a social species.” Pidge regretted opening her mouth the second after as the purple glowing quintessence loaded metal of a very large chained whip clashed down next to her, nicking her arm and leaving a large gash in the floor. She couldn't stop herself from making a loud yelp and she grasped her arm defensively.

“Interrupt me again and I will take your arm. You don't need the limb to live, as your Champion so well has proved, and I will make sure it will be most painful.” Zarkon sounded pissed and Pidge nodded quickly and only dared to look up at the device he was holding.

It looked like a bayard.

Oh no...

When it dawned on her she could barely control her staring.

Why hadn't Allura told them?

Why hadn't she told them that Zarkon was the Black Paladin?

 

Zarkon scowled at her.

“I will allow you to accompany the Blue Paladin in my quarters for some time each quintant. You will comfort him and treat him with respect. You will not cause him distress of any kind.” Zarkon took a deep breath. “Is that understood?” She nodded.

“Break this agreement and I will punish you severely.” She nodded again.

Zarkon walked back to his throne and sat down.

“In return for your services I am willing to provide you with information.” Zarkon said and Pidge looked up at him. She did not expect to be offered anything.

“Information regarding your missing family members. I have been informed they were some of our first contacts with your specie.”

Pidge could barely sit still. She wanted to shout out and demand he tell her more. But she knew better than to do so.

Not here.

Not now.

She bowed her head in a “thank you” gesture Haxus had taught her.

“Do we have an agreement?” Zarked asked and Pidge could swear it seemed like he was disgusted by saying it.

Did Zarkon care so much about Lance he was willing to bargain with a slave? Apparently so.

She gave him a firm nod.

“Good. Follow.” Zarkon rose from his throne again and strode over to a part of the catwalk a bit to the side. Pidge got up and walked briskly over to where he was standing.

A click and Pidge realised they were standing on an elevator, almost seamlessly hidden in the metal floor.

She was now standing with barely any space between them and she looked up at the so called Emperor. 

He was so huge.

You could stack two of her and still have a way to go to reach his eye level.

 

The elevator kept going down and Pidge tried to keep her eyes to herself not wanting to agitate the monster next to her.

They stopped in front of a richly decorated door and Zarkon stepped through.

They ended up in a hallway with many other doors on each side and Zarkon opened one of them signaling for Pidge to go through.

They were standing in a large room with a big circular bed in the middle. From the ceiling hang see through fabric making a delicate curtain to partially hid whoever was on the bed from view. All in various shades of purple and magenta.

And someone was laying there.

Zarkon gave Pidge signal to stay as he himself walked over to the bed and pushed the curtains away enough to bend over the sleeping figure.

Pidge could see the Emperor gently stroking the person's head as he quietly whispered something.

It took a few seconds and the person sat up and pushed the curtains aside.

A moment ticked by before she recognised the long slim body and the short brown hair, that looked a little bit untidy, and while he had some out of place markings on his face, his skin had the same nice light brown tone to it.

 

Lance.

 

He looked puzzled at her, and before she could tell herself not to, she had crossed the distance between them and tossed her arms around his neck.

Lance made a noise of surprise and Pidge could swear she saw Zarkon reach for his bayard  but he stopped when he realised her intent.

“Do I know you?” he blurted out and Pidge had to grin at the dumbfounded look on his face.

“Don't you remember me, Lance?” she said.

He looked at her intensely and then his eyes lit up.

“P-Pidge? But how? And why are you a girl?!!” Lance blurted out in shock.

“I was always a girl, you jerk,” she said teasingly and gave him a small punch in the stomach. She noticed Zarkon narrowed his eyes and she did not do it again, even if it was tempting to give him a little beating for that comment.

But Lance smiled, his whole face lit up and he grabbed her and hugged, nice and tight.

“It's so good to see you,” he said and sighed.

“Same,” Pidge said back when they finally separated.

“But why are you here?”

“Zarkon asked me to come and keep you company.” She could see the Emperor's ear twitch at the casual use of his name.

“Really?” Lance gave the Emperor an incredulous stare but with a warm fond smile quickly following as if saying thank you.

He turned to Pidge all giddy.

“This is so cool! I have so much to tell you!” Lance was almost bouncing in place.

“Zarkon?” Lance turned to the Emperor again. “Can Pidge eat with me?”

Zarkon inclined his head and said “I will have a meal brought here.” And then he walked towards the door.

Pidge found it incredible to see the Emperor follow the commands of the bony fellow human as if it was he who was in charge. It almost made her giggle, but she tried to suppress it.

Apparently Lance had the Emperor around his finger.

 

As Zarkon left the room, Lance took Pidges hand and pulled her with him onto the bed, through the veil like curtains. The bed was soft, but firm enough that they could sit comfortably.

Lance grabbed one of the many pillows that littered the bed and propped himself over it against the bed, looking up at her with childlike wonder.

Pidge froze when she noticed it.

The thin silvery metal ring around Lance's neck and the elegant purple iridescent chain that hang off it down his back and snaked itself off the bed and out of sight.

He was as much a slave as she was.

“What?” Lance asked.

“Nothing, just a bit overwhelmed,” she said and tried to smile.

“I was overwhelmed too when I got here the first time, but Zarkon was very nice and helpful.” Lance got a fond smile on his face, as if he was recalling a pleasant memory.

“It was quite scary when I realised who he was though.”

“He didn't tell you right away?” Pidge stared at him.

“No, he said he didn't want to frighten me unnecessary. He mostly let me figure it out on my own. Was quite the shock though.”

“Hah, can imagine.”

“I kept asking for you guys constantly the first time. Zarkon just told me you were safe and that I didn’t have to worry. It was so annoying.” Lance mock pouts to emphasize his point.

Lance seemed so happy and it was nice. It wasn't like when she met Shiro, with tears and sadness. Lance was just genuinely happy to see Pidge. And it made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

The only thing throwing her off was the markings on his face. She couldn’t remember where she had seen similar ones before and it was annoying her to no end. And she was too shy to ask lest she started to dig up something Lance wanted to forget.

 

“But enough about me, tell me about you, Pidge! I want to know what happened to you? Why did you hide as a boy? Where have you been until now?” Lance was so excited gesturing wildly with each word. It was so obvious he had not have had much social interaction beyond what Zarkon must have given him. And Zarkon might have not objected to Lance's antics from the looks of it.

Pidge decided to tell him everything from the start.

Pidge told him about her father and brother, why she joined the Galaxy Garrison by hacking the system and disguising as a new student, and why she was listening into space that fateful night they all met.

“I was not expecting to spend so much time with you so I kinda just went with the lie.” Pidge shrugged.

“I think I would have done the same, to find my family.” Lance said and gave her a sad small smile. “But it doesn't matter anymore. They are all gone.” The smile disappeared. Pidge wanted to say something, but Lance beat her to it.

“But your family still lives, right? At least your father and brother? They might still be out there!” Lance seemed excited at that, perking up.

Pidge smiled at him.

“I hope so. And I want to go find them.”

“Then why don't you? I bet I can make Zarkon help you. He should know where to start at least!”

Pidge had to force herself not to drop her smile.

Lance was so innocently ignorant of what was going on that it was painful to behold. Pidge had no idea what lies and half truths Zarkon had been feeding him for all these years.

“I can't go.” Her voice wavered a bit.

“Why not?” Lance asked and he cocked his head.

Pidge was seconds away from telling Lance about his experiences with Haxus, but then she remembered that she was here to make Lance happy, and she doubted he would enjoy hearing about her miserable life in the same timeframe he had been lounging on silk beds and gorging on the Empires best food. Untouched and unharmed.

“I’m in a similar situation as you,” she said. “Just not as grand. Or posh.” She tried to chuckle at that last part. But Lance frowned and furrowed his brows, but seemingly not because he was offended.

“Who are you living with? What is his/her name?” Lance asked, and there was a bit of command in his voice that Pidge found uncomfortable.

“Haxus. He’s a commander.” She looked away from Lance. “He and Sendak was the one who brought us here.”

Pidge wasn't sure what to expect from Lance,but him getting up and quickly walking over to a  monitor on a desk near the wall was not it. He tapped away before picking up a pad and walking back to her, still completely oblivious to the purple chain snaking behind him, clinking softly at his every move. Pidge didn’t understand how it didn’t bother him.

“Is this him?” Lance held up the pad, Haxus profile picture and file clearly shown.

She nodded.

Lance flipped the pad back to himself and started reading, eyes darting across the pad with skill. Pidge was surprised that Lance had learned how to read galran.

“He sounds boring. A real stick in the mud,” Lance commented and closed the file with a huff.

“Well that's an understatement,” Pidge snorted. “I work with him. Could be worse I guess.”

“We should see what kind of info we can find on your dad and bro.” Lance started to flick around on the pad.

“Oh, we don’t have to.” Pidge tried not to sound too disinterested not to rise suspicion. She imagined Zarkon wouldn’t want them digging around the subject, especially when he had already promised her information.

“Here, take it.” Lance handed her the pad as he stepped off the bed again.

“I can't,” Pidge said a bit too quick.

“Why not? I am getting another one.”

“I am not allowed to use technology.”

“What? Are you serious? But you love technology. You are a tech freak!”

Lance trust the pad into her hands and she pulled them away as if burnt.

“I can't. He’ll punish me.” She meant it. She was not allowed to touch equipment and the repercussions of doing so were still etched into her mind. And even if Haxus had become more lenient, the fear of evoking that punishment was just too much. It was better to be safe than sorry.

At her comment Lance's eyes widened in shock.

“What did you say?”

Pidge hid her hands on her sides in her armpits.

“I am not allowed to touch anything technological without supervision,” she said and hoped that would be enough.

“Not that. You said he would punish you!” Lance dropped the pad on the bed and grabbed hold of Pidge’s arms. “Who?!”

Pidge found this to be more uncomfortable than many of Haxus’ punishments ever had.

“H-Haxus,” she stammered.

“But why?!” Lance looked shocked and sad.

“Because... Lance, because we are their prisoners.” Lance looked taken back, his blue eyes wide and he released his grip on her arms.

“What?”

“Lance, I am Haxus’ slave.” If Lance looked shocked before, it was nothing compared to his shocked expression now.

Lance plopped down on the bed and looked away from her staring onto nothing.

“A-and the others?” Lance asked without looking at her.

Pidge hesitated. Telling him this would surely lend her in trouble. But how could she not tell him?

“Shiro was forced into a mateship with Sendak to keep us from being killed. I don't know what happened to the others.”

Lance just stared right ahead of himself.

“Everything I’ve been told… has been a lie?” He dragged his hands over his face.

Pidge placed her hand on his shoulder.

But Lance suddenly stood up.

“No! Zarkon wouldn't lie to me! They must have done it without him knowing!” Lance started walking in circles.

“Lance…”

“I don't know what he has told you, but I can assure you that it is not the truth.”

Lance stopped.

“...I need to know the truth. The whole truth,” he suddenly said and and after fumbling with something beneath the bed for a few second he stormed towards the door. Pidge realised he had unclasped the chain he was wearing from wherever it was fastened and she felt she had no other options than to follow him.

Lance marched determined towards the elevator she and Zarkon had taken earlier and moments later both she and Lance was on the way up.

Fate would have it that Zarkon was still there, going through something on holographic screens surrounding his throne.

Lance walked straight towards him.

“Zarkon!” Lance yelled and the Emperor turned towards the man immediately.

“What is it, my star?” Zarkon replied, his calm expression changing the moment he spotted Pidge.

 

“You lied to me!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not overly happy with this chapter. I felt some of it was off.


	19. Agreements

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't anger the giant galra Emperor.  
> At least not without backup.

Zarkon rose from his throne, and Pidge swore that the galra had grown at least a meter and a half since last time. His enormous figure loomed above them and the Emperor’s eyes bored into her own as they fixated onto her.

The galra sidestepped Lance as if he was a piece of furniture, ignoring the man completely as he walked so fast Pidge barely had time to react.

“ _You_ . Did I not warn you of the _consequences_?” Zarkon’s voice rumbled, his voice inches from becoming an all out roar. Zarkon grabbed hold of Pidge before she could move, a strong clawed hand around her thin neck.

She couldn’t breathe!

And he easily lifted her into the air even as she squirmed and her small hands banged and clawed on his armored arms.

“No! Let her go! I convinced her to tell me! It's not her fault!” Lance cried out, desperation in his eyes. But Zarkon did not let go and the panic on Lance's face rose as Pidge turned more and more blue from the lack of oxygen.

Then in a second Lance made his decision and ran towards the edge of the platform the throne was resting on.

He only stopped when he reached the edge.

His naked feet dangerously near the edge and the drop below.

“I’ll jump if you don’t stop right now!” Lance cried out. Pidge could see Zarkon eyeing the chain laying on the floor. She knew he was coming to the same conclusion as Lance. If Lance jumped he would die from the fall, and grabbing the chain to stop him would only result in snapping Lance’s neck instead.

Lance held all the cards.

Zarkon dropped Pidge and turned to Lance fully.

“Do not say such things,” Zarkon said with worry in his voice. At his feet Pidge was gasping for air as she pushed herself up in a sitting position, tears running down her cheeks.

“I will if you don't listen to me! You keep saying you care, but you never listen! Just like with mom and Earth!” Lance had tears in his eyes himself.

Pidge snapped her head in Lance's direction. Lance had been to Earth?

When?

And… oh no. Pidge almost shook at the realisation.

“You take everything I love and destroy it!” Lance cried out.

“Why?!”

Zarkon walked over to Lance and grabbed his face with both hands.

“I did it to protect you.”

“I don't want your protection if it means you hurt my friends!”

“I have not hurt them intentionally.”

“But you let it happen! You are the Emperor for christ’s sake! You could have just ordered them not to hurt them!”

“But you didn't!”

Zarkon sighed and Pidge was not sure if it was in agreement or in frustration.

“I will from now on, but only if you promise to calm down.” Zarkon brushed his hand along Lance's cheek fondly. “My little ocean.”

“You will allow Pidge here every day, okay?” Lance said and dried his tears. “I don’t want her to work with that cruel commander anymore.”

“That was already the plan,” Zarkon huffed with a smile and rubbed his thumb soothingly across Lance's shoulder before bringing him in for a tight hug, covering most of the young mans body.

Pidge couldn’t fail to see that Zarkon seemed genuine. He cared for Lance, deeply.

 

Obsessed was maybe a better word.

 

“Take your friends back down. We can talk more about this later,” Zarkon said and Lance nodded.

Lance led Pidge back to the room they had been in and he made her sit on the bed.

“I’m so sorry.” Lance kept repeating that constantly as he fussed over her. He helped push down the collar of her suit to better look at the bruises Zarkon caused. He bit his lip when he saw the dark marks that started to form on her skin.

“I have something that can help,” he said and hopped off the bed nearly sprinting towards a cabinet along the wall. He picked up a small jar and then bounced back.

“I use this when Zarkon have been a bit rough. It helps against the bruises.” Lance dipped a finger in the clear gel and rubbed some of it on Pidge's neck carefully.

“Lance. Does he… does he hurt you?” Pidge asked, worried for her friend. Lance went silent as if he was thinking about an answer.

“He sometimes forget how strong he is.” Lance put down the jar. “And how fragile we humans are. We are not galra.”

“Are you together?” Pidge blurted out the question before she could think it through.

Lance looked at her shocked, before his expression softened.

“...I guess you can say that.” Lance sighed and rubbed a bit more gel on her neck. “He loves me.”

“Do you love him?”

“...he’ll kill me if I don't.” Lance placed his hands in his lap. His pupils blown and breath hitching.

“Ever since the start. I played along because I didn't want to get hurt. But I fear that one day I won't be able to keep up the facade and he’ll kill me!” With hands behind his head Lance sank together on the bed, his face a grimace of panic.

Pidge threw her arms around him and hugged tight.

“I'm living and breathing a lie. And it keeps growing! I don't know what to do…”

Pidge felt an enormous amount of sympathy towards Lance. The stress had to be terrible.

“So when he told me you guys were fine, again and again, I started to believe it. It was one less thing to worry about.”

“I don't blame you. I didn't even know if you or Shiro was alive all these years. Haxus didn't tell me anything.”

“That must have been terrible. Not knowing that is.”

“It wasn't easy. But I always hoped. Just like I did with dad and Matt.”

“Doesn't seem like you will be looking for them anytime soon though.”

“Well, Zarkon did promise me information about them if I made you happy again,” Pidge said and smiled.

“He did? Huh.”

“While I think he is scary as fuck, I also think he cares about you.”

“...I hope so. Enough so that he won't kill me if he ever found out.”

“I don't know him well enough to say, but I don't think he is that evil.”

“Pidge, he is the Emperor of the frickin’ universe. You don't get more evil than that.” Lance raised an eyebrow. Pidge laughed.

“Maybe, but I still think he will not kill you.”

“Thanks, it helps hearing that from someone other than my own silly head.” Lance smiled.

“Yeah, don't listen too much to your noggin, might get brain damage.” Pidge snickered.

“Ha-ha, funny.” Lance said and smiled.

They both laughed.

It felt good.

She couldn't remember the last time she laughed like this.

It was only interrupted by a sentry walking in with a large tray with food. It placed it at a seating arrangement by the wall and left.

“Hungry?” Lance asked and nodded towards it.

“A little,” Pidge said and they both headed over and sat down.

The food was as good as Pidge could imagine it would be for the Emperor's pet. Even if Lance complained that they never got one of the sauces right.

“I keep telling them to add less salt, but do they listen? Nope.” He shook his head and ate something else instead.

They talked about anything that would pop up, small things, large things, how stupid some of the officers were, how creepy the druids and Haggar were, and one hour became many until Zarkon himself showed up, accompanied by a sentry.

“It is time for you to leave.” Zarkon said and Lance gave Pidge one last hug before she followed the sentry out.

 

It had been a nice day, apart from the near death strangling of course, and Pidge smiled the whole way back to Haxus quarters.

 

\-----

 

Katie returned to Haxus’ quarters the same evening, escorted by a sentry. And not the old model, but the new upgraded version. The ones you saw around the safety zone around the Emperor's quarters.

Katie barely looked at him and beelined for her room.

Haxus let her undress and change into her nightgown before letting his curiosity have the better of him.

He lightly knocked on her door and when she didn't object he opened it slowly.

“Katie?”

She was sitting on the bed with her feet tucked under her blanket. She looked up at him when he entered.

“Are you okay?” he asked and then his eyes fell upon the blooming bruises on her neck, well visible even with the collar covering most of it.

“Who did that?!” he shot in before she could answer his first question. She brushed her fingers over the bruises.

“He didn't like it that I told Lance the truth,” she said as she rubbed her neck lightly. “It's fine though, Lance stopped him. Barely even hurts.” She made a small laugh.

Haxus opened his mouth to say something but Katie interrupted him.

“Zarkon wants me to keep Lance company every quintant from now on,” she said and dragged a hand through her hair, loosening the ponytail. “A sentry will fetch me in the morning.”

Haxus was a bit surprised the Emperor actually agreed to it, but who was he to doubt the Emperor's orders?

“You are also getting your job back. Don't have to look after me anymore.”

“I’m just glad you are okay.” Haxus blurted out. That was what mattered to him right then.

The girl looked surprised. “Thanks, I guess?”

“Do you need something for the bruises?” he asked.

“No, Lance gave me something.” Haxus nodded at her answer.

“I am kinda tired so I just want to sleep,” she said and Haxus realised it was rather late.

“Of course.” He left the room and let her sleep.

 

He laid awake for several vargas just thinking.

 

His fears were getting closer to reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope to have the first part of Lance's story done soon so you get more in-depth information about Lance's experience as Zarkons little pet.


	20. Respite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things become better before they get worse.
> 
> A rather long chapter as I felt it would be wrong to split it apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know a lot of you are going to hate me for this chapter, so much happens, and it happens rather fast.

The next day a sentry took her back to Lance as promised, and they spent the day chatting. Lance showed her some books he was reading. Turned out he had learned to read Galra during his captivity and Pidge was impressed he had learned it so quickly.

“I didn't have much else to do so it went kinda fast and Zarkon gave me books and stuff,” Lance said and Pidge swore he was blushing.

 

They spent the rest of the day with Lance showing her around the rooms he shared with Zarkon. It was easy to see which rooms were mostly occupied by Lance.

Small trinkets like sea shells on every shelf, that looked alien, but still familiar enough to give Pidge a pang of homesickness of Earth. Blue cloth draped over beds and furniture. An aquarium in a corner, large enough to house a plethora of colorful fish. A room that could simulate different weather conditions, like sun and rain. Not much unlike the holographic room of the Castle of Lions had. It was one of Lance's favorite rooms and he claimed to spend most of his time when alone in there.

Zarkon’s rooms on the other hand felt cold and impersonal. Or maybe it just felt that way since the walls were mostly bare except some old blades and other weapons that hung there like trophies from old forgotten wars.

Lance told her he had never dared touching them.

Pidge didn't dare either.

 

They made a pillow fort where they ate that day’s lunch.

It was like being a kid again, innocent and free. Something they both missed.

 

It was heaven.

 

\-----

 

Haxus sent Katie off every day hoping he would see her again by days end.

And so far that had been what had happened.

She was returned every evening with a bright smile on her face and a glow to her body he could not describe.

But while she was happy he found himself to grow more and more lonely.

She was never there after all. They barely had time to eat breakfast before she was ushered out the door by the sentries.

And for dinner, well she always arrived so late that he had already eaten, and she was often tired when she returned and therefore went to bed much earlier than him.

The small things he had cherished between them was slipping away.

He was losing her again, but more slowly, and it felt almost as bad as if it had been sudden.

 

But.

 

He still didn’t want to wish for this to stop.

She deserved the happiness.

 

He did not.

 

\-----

 

The days sped faster and faster.

Pidge and Lance were enjoying their lives for the first time in years.

Days were spent playing silly games, eating new foods and running around the Imperial Quarters causing mischief for the few servants that were there.

Zarkon himself was rather confused when he encountered a sentry the duo had spent most of the day doodling on.

He'd had had the tendency to show up randomly with a small snack or two, observing them when they went about with their little games, and then dissappear back to work.

Pidge didn't mind.

They even ran into the grumpy old tailor that had made Pidge's uniform. And while she was glad Pidge was still using her garments, she didn't seem completely enthusiastic when Lance asked her to make Pidge a swimsuit. For Lance wanted to show Pidge the baths, but he wasn't going to request her to skinnydip.

 

_ At least not yet. _

 

Aneera had grumbled something about “only the Emperor's pet could come up with such an outrageous request” but she had complied and the next day Pidge had received a very stylish two piece garment in dark purples and golds. A mirror to Lance's own swimsuit.

Lance had been super giddy all morning and almost bounced when led the way to the room that housed the baths.

Pidge knew only the Emperor could have built something so grand as a swimming pool in space. But this was no regular swimming pool. This was a  _ lake. _ And it kept on and on and on.

It even had an artificial beach with sand and a small island in the middle.

Pidge wondered if it had been built for Lance alone.

 

Lance wasted no time and took a dive, splashing water everywhere, and Pidge followed quickly after.

This was the first time she swam since she was fourteen. 

 

And it was amazing.

 

They raced each other across and even if Lance won almost every time, due to more experience and strength, Pidge was having fun. Even when he swam circles around her, teasing her, and she splashed water at him in retaliation.

It turned into an all out splash-war, one Pidge was not going to lose.

Their laughter echoed through the cavernous room.

Lance emerged from the water like a shark, grabbed Pidge and started tickling her teasingly.

She kept laughing, clutching her chest in a fit of giggles, and Lance leant in.

 

And kissed her on the cheek.

 

Pidge stopped laughing, more from the shock than anything else.

 

Lance looked mortified.

 

“I’m sorry!” he flailed his arms in apology.

She touched her cheek absentmindedly, stroking her fingers over the spot, still slightly wet from his lips.

Lance flushed red and stared down into the water.

Pidge smiled which turned into a small smirk.

“You know, that wasn't half bad,” she said and Lance looked up at her, still red as a beet.

“In fact, I think you could do better,” she leaned in close with a sultry look on her face. “With a little practice.” Their lips met and none of them shied away.

The sound of crashing metal broke them out of their embrace and they looked up at the source of the commotion.

Zarkon was standing at the pool edge, a tray with snacks and drinks at his feet, the contents spread over a large area.

Lance looked at him a split second and then the Emperor turned on his heel and left the room.

“Zarkon!” Lance cried out and made his way to the pool edge as fast as he could, scrambling to get up and out of the water before he stormed out after him. “Zarkon! Come on! You don't understand!”

Pidge was left behind in the water that suddenly felt a lot colder than it was.

She climbed out of the pool slowly and grabbed a towel from one of the chairs.

 

\-----

 

Lance's wet feet slapped against the floor as he hurried after Zarkon. He was starting to give up when he rounded a corner and spotted the Emperor sitting in a chair by a table, arms crossed across his chest.

“Zarkon.” Lance ran over to him. “I’m sorry.”

The Emperor did not answer, merely stared onto the wall on the other side of the room.

“Zarkon listen.”

Zarkon ignored him.

“You know when I told you I like both boys  _ and _ girls?” Lance hoped Zarkon remembered that. Was a couple of years since he told him though.

A smull grunt was all he got in reply.

“Pidge is… the last woman left in the universe now. And… I do find her attractive.” Lance rubbed his arm nervously. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t love you anymore!” Lance placed himself in front of Zarkon, between him and the table.

“I just got caught in the moment. And… she is my friend. She would understand it if you don’t want us to be anything else.”

“Please, Zarkon. I don’t want you to be mad at me.” Lance said and prayed that Zarkon would believe him.

 

Silence stretched on and Lance’s heart thundered in his chest.

 

Zarkon sighed and closed his eyes for a long second before opening them and staring at Lance with a more relaxed look on his face.

“I cannot stay mad at you,” he said and stroked Lance’s head before he kissed his forehead affectionately.

“My precious little boy.” Zarkon’s hands travelled further down to nibble on ear and then his neck, while his clawed hands trailed down Lance’s still damp sides.

Lance breathed out in relief and stroked the back on Zarkon’s head, letting his fingers run over the platelike scales there.

Zarkon’s hands cupped his behind, feeling his firm buttocks through the wet fabric.

Lance canted his hips into the touch like he had done countless times before.

_ Feign interest. _

_ Do not let the Emperor realise you actually loathe this. _

_ No matter how disgusted you feel. _

Lance made a small moan and he could feel Zarkon make a smile into the crook of his neck.

The Zarkon suddenly moved his head away and said: “Perhaps our eavesdropper would like to join in?”

Lance looked up and saw Pidge by the door.

“No, I don't think she would,” he said fast, fearing Zarkon would force her. 

 

He did not want her to experience that.

 

\-----

 

Pidge's breath hitched when she realised her position had been compromised. Damn that oversensitive galra hearing. She kept forgetting about it.

She stepped into the room, still clutching the towel around her.

“Indeed, I believe she has had enough galra cock.” Zarkon said, and Pidge could not miss the smug look on his face.  _ Motherfucker. _

Lance missed it as his eyes were on her instead.

“What?”

“Your friend had a little bout with one of my commanders,” Zarkon continued and leant into to nibble on Lance’s neck again.

_ That son of a motherfucking bitch. _

“But you should not worry, he was punished.”

“Pidge…” Lance looked like he was about to cry, most likely blaming himself for her misfortune.

“I don't want to talk about it.” Especially not now, in front of Zarkon. Especially when he still had his grubby hands all over Lance, nuzzling his neck like she wasn't there.

It was obvious he saw her as a threat and this was a display of power. He was trying to scare her away and try make Lance be disgusted of her.

But Zarkon did not know any of them well enough.

Though, Lance might stop his advances now, if not for Zarkon's disagreement, then he would because he felt pity for her, or was afraid to hurt her.

If she wanted more she would have to be the one to lead. And right now that was not something she wanted.

Maybe later.

When the dread of Zarkon's threats did not loom above them.

“I’ll head back to Haxus’. See you tomorrow, Lance.” Pidge said and turned to go find her stuff.

“Pidge, you don't have to go.” Lance sounded hurt, like this was his fault.

“I think it would be best if she left.” Zarkon said and Pidge saw him slip his hand down Lance's swimsuit, cupping his ass.

_ Yeah, she should leave alright. _

So she tried walking slow enough to not give away she wanted to be anywhere but there.

 

\-----

 

Katie was home early and something was wrong.

But he did not dare ask why.

She seemed disappointed for something. Like something had gone wrong.

And she was unhurt at least.

 

They ate together for once and while he should have been sad for her, he enjoyed it quite much.

 

When they went to bed Haxus almost hoped she wouldn’t go away the day after.

 

\-----

 

A sentry didn't come for her the next day, at least not right away.

Pidge spent most of the day in her room, not really doing anything. Haxus popped in now and then to check on her. It seemed he was dying to ask her why she hadn't been summoned, but even after opening his mouth multiple times, he always ended up closing it saying nothing.

Not before dinner did a sentry suddenly appear and informed her she was invited to a dinner party of all things.

She hurried to get dressed and Haxus fussed over her looks more than usual.

She was then ushered along into the depths of Central Command.

Her destination was a grand dining hall, with a way too big table for the few guests that were gathered.

And they were some guests alright.

Zarkon sat at the middle of the table, on an ornate chair, not much different than his throne, just smaller of course. 

Several commanders and an lieutenant were seated at the table. And they were wearing the new paladin armor she had seen before.

Prorok in yellow. Trugg in red. Ladnok in green. Thace in blue. 

But Zarkon was not in black. He must not have deemed it necessary.

She also spotted Sendak sitting surprisingly not at his right side, that spot was reserved for Lance.

She was surprised to see him wearing a large amount of jewelry and the marks on his face had become more prominent. The clothes he was wearing were also reminiscent of something, the same something the markings did. 

 

Zarkon gestured towards a seat and Pidge sat down. The sentry however placed itself right behind her chair - which was conveniently matching her height - which was rather odd,but then she noticed one was placed behind Lance’s chair as well.

 

A door opened and four sentries walked in with Shiro between them, and from Sendak’s surprised look, this was not something he was aware of was planned. At least not with him him.

And if Sendak’s surprise was not enough, it was nothing compared to the one the humans faced when another door opened and Allura herself was paraded into the room by an equal amount of sentries. She was escorted to the chair on Zarkons left side.

“Allura!” the humans cried in unison, and she barely lifted her head to look at them. She looked exhausted, dark rings under her eyes and she seemed to have lost a lot of weight. She didn’t say anything and when she was pushed down into the waiting chair it looked like she was on the verge of collapse.

And then Pidge realised where she had seen Lance’s facial markings.

She had seen them on Allura and Coran.

Lance had Altean markings!

_ HOW? _

And did Allura’s markings seem to fade?

Pidge did not get more time to dwell on her newfound realisation as Zarkon started talking.

“Sadly the halfbreed and the human engineer could not be here with us today, as they simply were too far away to reach us in time. But they will be here tomorrow.”

Halfbreed? Was he talking about Keith?

“And Coran?” Pidge dared ask, as Allura was here alone.

“Coran is dead.” Allura’s hoarse voice proclaimed. “Zarkon killed him. Just like he did my father.”

The humans stared at her. Pidge could not believe it.

Coran was gone.

Everyone's temporary cool uncle with his wacky ideas and weird taste in food and drink, he had been a source of reprieve and joy that they sorely needed during their time at the Castle of Lions.

Zarkon had killed him, just like he had killed everyone else.

Pidge wanted to cry, but most of all she felt an enormous amount of anger.

“The advisor was relentless in breaking the boundaries placed for him, and as a result I saw it necessary to teach him a lesson. But alas, he did not survive. Pity. Seems our dear Princess is now the last of her kind.” Zarkon turned towards Allura and reached out, snatching the scuffed up crown from her head. “And with no subjects to rule, you can barely call yourself “princess”, can you, dear Allura?” He crushed the crown in his fist, bending the metal into an unrecognisable shape and the gem in front shattered.

“Go... kill... yourself...murderer...” Allura wheezed. Zarkon tsk-ed in response.

“Why do you not call me what you used to back then? It was so sweet hearing you call me “uncle Zarky” every time you begged for sweets when I visited,” Zarkon said, voice sugarsweet and demeaning. Some of the new paladins snickered at this and Zarkon didn’t seem to mind.

Allura bared her teeth and snarled at him.

“No? Pity,” Zarkon said smugly before he turned back to the other guests by the table.

Pidge scowled at him.

If only glares could kill.

“Let us focus back on the reason for our little feast,” Zarkon said and gestured towards the table and the people seated around it. “As you can all see, the Lions have chosen new paladins, and mere vargas ago, we, with I as the Black Paladin once again, successfully formed Voltron.”

“No way!” Lance gasped.

“Impossible!” Pidge cried out.

“No!” Shiro groaned.

Allura merely gritted her teeth and clenched her eyes shut.

 

“And thus you are no longer needed.”

 

A deadly silence blanketed the room as every soul waited for what came next.

“You will therefore be publicly executed tomorrow in front of the entire Empire.”

The room exploded in uproar from the humans. While the galra looked on with smug faces.

Except for Sendak, and for some reason, Thace. Sendak looked outright shocked. Perhaps he had not expected that his Emperor would execute his mate? Thace on the other hand seemed simply neutral to these news, his face emotionless.

“YOU MONSTER!” Pidge cried out and started throwing every curse she knew at the Emperor which led to a sentry smacking their mechanic hands over her mouth to silence her.

“YOU CAN’T DO THIS!!!” Lance yelled and slammed his hands on the table..

“TYRANT!” Shiro roared and stood up, only to be grabbed by two sentries and forced to sit down again.

Allura had seemingly passed out, eyes closed and arms limp at her side, her mouth slightly open.

Zarkon seemed indifferent to the their protests as he turned to the man on his right.

“But not you, Lance. You are special and I will keep you close.” Zarkon reached out and stroked Lance’s face tenderly, but Lance leant away and pushed his chair out and stood up. Only to have a sentry grab him by the shoulders and push him back down.

Zarkon did not exactly frown, it was more like he expected Lance to react that way. He probably knew exactly what his pet felt about him. 

No illusions.

“I should have killed you in your sleep, Sendak!” Shiro roared at the commander that called himself his mate. Sendak’s face had gotten a lighter shade of purple and he avoided Shiro’s gaze. “You promised to keep us safe! I should never have trusted you with anything!” Shiro fought to get out of the grip of the sentries behind him.

“Takashi… I did not intend for this to happen.” Sendak let his claws dig into the table’s surface, his flesh hand shaking lightly.

“He does not lie, Champion. I never informed him of this decision before now.” Zarkon said casually, like this was just merely a common thing to be told.

Shiro clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

Lance had sunk down in his chair, still held in place by the sentries, his face pale and blank.

Pidge was seething of anger, but she was neither allowed to speak nor move by the sentry keeping her still. All she could do was claw at the robot’s arm in vain.

Zarkon leant back in his chair.

“You will live on in the people’s memory as the paladins that failed.” Zarkon said smug. “Consider this your last meal.” And with that the table was being decked with an seemingly endless amount of food and drink.

And none of them, apart from the galra ate anything, their appetite gone just like their hope for the next day.

 

\-----

 

The dinner finished with a speech held by Prorok, that had drunk a bit too much, and was boasting about the Empire’s great endeavors and praised Zarkon to no end. Zarkon himself had to tell the commander to sit down lest he would perish from it. Prorok had taken it with a big smile and had downed another glass of whatever the alcohol was called.

Pidge’s stomach churned. She wanted nothing more than to throw up.

She looked around at her friends. They did not look any better.

To be honest, her dying wasn’t what scared her. Dying in front of billions of people, crushing the hope of every non-galra in the universe, seeing her friends die…

That was what scared her.

Suddenly Zarkon rose from his chair, and Pidge realised the party was over.

What now?

The sentry dragged her to a stand, the same happened to her friends. Allura had to be carried.

“I am allowing you a night of rest in the places you call home. Appreciate it for what it is, a small respite from your damnation.” Zarkon said, no pity in his voice as the sentries led them all out of the room.

Pidge spotted Shiro lashing out at Sendak and Lance brushing off Zarkons grip on his shoulder, before being pushed out in the hall and away from her friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah. I low-key ship Plance.  
> Considering how much Pidge seemed to despise it whenever Lance flirted with other girls, I always felt there was something going on there.
> 
> Can I also just say that Zarkon is extremely petty?
> 
> There will be around 1-2 more chapters to this and an epilogue + all the side stories with the other characters.


	21. Their Last Nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins last nights alive.
> 
> In the following order, the paladin's experiences their last hours alive:  
> Pidge  
> Shiro (WARNING: Explicit, it's porn)  
> Hunk  
> Keith  
> Lance (WARNING: Non-con/rape)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last part belongs to Lance and contains a rape scene.
> 
> You've been warned.

Haxus greeted her by the door. His face pale and his ears drooping.

He had most likely heard the news already.

 

Haxus sat down by the kitchen table and gestured for her to sit as well.

He grabbed a half full bottle of something and poured a glass full of pale liquid and pushed it in front of Pidge.

“Drink,” Haxus said. “It will help.”

But Pidge just stared at the glass.

Haxus on the other hand filled his own glass several times, downing the contents in one go each time.

 

Neither of them slept that night.

 

When Haxus’ wristband beeped they were still sitting by the table, Haxus’ third bottle was almost empty.

And when the knock on the door came he didn't even bother to open it and let the sentries walk in on their way own.

They cuffed Pidge and was about to lead her out when Haxus cried out.

“Wait! She needs something.” He ran off into her room.

“Here.” He trust the small drone into her hands. “I cannot follow you to the arena, but maybe they will allow Rover II.”

Pidge looked confused at him.

The sentries did not object so when she followed them out, the small drone hovered after her.

She looked over her shoulder to see Haxus staring at her, despair marring his face.

 

She did not know what to feel.

 

\-----

 

Takashi sat on their bed, his head bowed and his hands in his lap.

“Takashi…” Sendak's voice was weak as he stretched his flesh hand out and touched the shoulder of his beloved.

To his surprise the man let him keep his hand there. He gently rubbed circles into his back.

“Why did I even think we would get out of this alive?” Takashi said. He sounded disappointed.

“The alternative was death. You did win you and your friends three deca-phoebs.”

Takashi snorted.

“Three years of misery.”

“Was your life here with me truly so terrible?” Sendak asked.

“I went into space to reach the stars. All I found was pain.” Takashi sighed. “It was nothing like I imagined it. And even if the last three deca-phoebs has been good, I have always been reminded of what I currently am,” Takashi said. “Prisoner… Slave...”

Sendak hummed in response and kept rubbing the man’s back affectionately. He didn’t really know what to say. What Takashi said was true, he was not free even if his status was better than most.

And Takashi sounded exhausted, weary.

Sendak continued to ease the man’s tired muscles.

Takashi sighed loudly.

“Sendak?”

“Yes, Takashi?”

“Make me feel.”

“Feel what exactly?” Sendak asked curiously.

“Pain, pleasure, anything! Anything to make me forget tomorrow.” Shiro cried out. “Even if it only lasts a moment.”

Sendak looked at him and then he reached out and took Takashi's flesh hand in his.

“I will do my best,” Sendak said and met Takashi's lips with a deep kiss tainted by tears.

 

They started simple, Sendak taking him from behind after having the man carefully prep himself like Takashi always did.

The warm heat of Takashi's body always managed to take all of Sendak and it astonished him that his mate could feel so good.

And this was the last time he would experience it.

It hurt to think about it.

These last three deca-phoebs had not been trouble free but they had been some of Sendak's best. And that said something about Sendak's long life.

He would remember his time with Takashi well. Both the pleasures and the pain. Because without the bad the memories meant nothing.

 

The tender mewls of his mate when he thrusted against that magical spot inside him made his heart melt and all he wanted to do was hold him in his arms and protect him from the world.

He couldn't.

But he could give him this.

 

He shifted positions. A leg over his shoulder, the other between his own legs as if to split the man in two with his member.

Takashi moaned so sweetly on entry and Sendak cherished it, as he showed no mercy when his pace began.

If his mate wanted to forget then all of him would be filled with only one thing; him, and him alone.

And Sendak listened intently to the moans of his mate. This would be the last time, so he reveled in them, tried to glue them to his memory.

 

Another position, Takashi on his lap, chest to chest, the man sobbing into his mane as Sendak pounded into him like there was no tomorrow - and there really was none - lifting and slamming down the lighter, but still muscular body onto his own throbbing member, his claws, organic and mechanic, digging into the man's thighs, creating angry red lines that quickly filled with blood.

Takashi moaned over the tears.

It was the only thing to make it bearable for Sendak. He would never hurt him like this anytime else, but this was his wish, and what mate would Sendak be to deny Takashi this on his last night alive?

 

He clasped onto the perfectly round and firm buttocks of his mate with both organic and artificial claws and sighed.

Why must he be so perfect?

It didn't matter that he had no fur or scales, or that his ears were round and weird. Takashi was a walking masterpiece of beauty and strength.

How could anyone wish to destroy this?

 

Sendak did not know how long they went on. They changed positions so many times, and it felt so good, but the dread of tomorrow always kept him from going over the edge.

Until...

“Harder,” the man gasped, and Sendak thrust into the exquisite heat of his body.

“Harder!” the man snapped, and Sendak slammed his hips forward, spearing the man so hard the loud slap of their bodies echoed through the room.

“HARDER!” Takashi cried out, and with a desperate snarl on his face, Sendak digged his claws into the man's hips and roared as his hips collided against the man's own, again again. Sendak drove all his might into these finishing moves, his face a snarling grimace, fangs bared, as with all his might he thrust himself into that delicious wet heat that was his mate. And only then did Takashi's commands for more cease as he instead was grasping the sheets and gasped desperately for air.

This was the grand finale, and as Sendak closed his organic fist around Takashi's throat, Sendak proved to be the winner as Takashi came groaning, completely untouched, and painted his stomach white.

The clenching hole tipped the scales and Sendak came with a loud groan, emptying himself inside the smaller man.

Sendak found himself, for the first time in ages, out of breath.

The man below him slumped over, panting, and he himself had to take a few deep breaths to calm down his racing heart.

“Thank you…” Takashi breathed out and fell asleep from exhaustion.

 

With his mate sleeping soundly in his lap Sendak could do nothing but think.

He wondered if the Emperor would allow him the body, to give Takashi a warrior’s burial. But would he manage to see his beloved as a mangled corpse? He had done so with friends and allies, but would this be different? Would there even be anything to reclaim?

Sendak sighed and carded his flesh hand through the man's white locks.

Without really thinking he pinched a clump of the man's hair and cut it swiftly with a flick of a claw.

He sniffed it deeply.

It smelled like him, as he had hoped.

Rummaging around the top drawer of the nightstand, without waking Takashi, he pulled out a small ribbon. He didn't remember where it came from, just that it had been laying around for a while. It would now serve a new purpose than forgotten clutter.

He laid the clump of hair on it and with the best of his ability - no thanks to his large prosthetic - he tied it up.

Tomorrow this would be all that was left of his mate.

He laid it on the nightstand and looked at it with sadness in his eyes before he placed a kiss on his mate's cheek and leant back against the bed.

 

Just a few vargas left of this…

\-----

 

Hunk slumped against the wall of his holding cell and turned his hands so that the cuffs didn’t dig so much into his wrist.

He sighed and let a finger trail over the scar on his forehead.

It was one of the deep ones. Almost to the bone.

But it was one of many. His back was riddled with them.

And probably would be his last if what the guards had told him was true.

 

Execution.

 

At least he would see the others again? Right?

 

He had been rather confused when the guards had interrupted him during his work and simply dragged him aboard the small prison transport.

Had he done something wrong again?

He had gotten really good at not making them angry the last year.

Learned his lessons so to speak.

He hadn’t even asked the guards what they meant when they had tossed him in the cell and told him he was to be executed.

_Don’t ask questions._

_Or get punished._

Luckily the guards had eagerly spoken between themselves and by putting his ear against the door he had been able to pick up most of their conversation.

_‘The usefulness of the paladins had ended and they were getting their just reward.’_ \- was the gist of it.

There would be no fair trial here, or any trial at all.

He hadn’t really expected anything else to be honest. The galra didn’t seem like the type to give anyone a fair chance if they stood in their way.

 

But right now he didn’t want to think about how he would be executed. Not that his mind would give him that peace.

 

Lethal injection?

Too humane.

Firing squad?

Too mundane.

Arena?

Most likely.

Hanged, gutted and with your entrails hanging out being devoured by wild beasts while you were still alive?

...maybe not think about that possibility too much.

 

One thing he had learned in his captivity was that the galra always gave you a chance to show your strength. Like with Shiro - poor guy, he was probably back in the arena again - but if physical strength weren’t you forte, well too bad. You would make a nice bloodstain on the floor though.

Hunk shuddered at the thought.

 

A loud crack and the transport ship came to a screeching halt. Hunk was knocked forward and almost smashed his nose into his knees.

 

What was that?

 

\-----

 

Keith led the wetstone along the edge of his knife again and again.

It was a miracle he had been allowed to keep it all these years.

But the “Galra Halfbreed Correctional Program” seemed to build most of its systems on trust.

Trust and blind faith to the Emperor.

Fucking Zarkon.

What he would give to get up and close to that mangy bitch.

Maybe he would be lucky, they were going to Central Command after all?

 

“Ilun, are we there yet?”

“Soon, two more vargas.”

“Why so eager, halfbreed?” The voice of one of the guards slipped through the door. “Do you even know what is waiting for you at Central?” A snicker.

“Don’t know, don’t care.”

“You should.”

“Why?”

“You will see for yourself soon enough.” Laughter. Keith frowned.

“Ilun, could you punch him for me?”

“No can do, Keetha.”

“Oh for the love of… It’s Keith! KEITH!”

“Keetha sounds better.”

Keith groaned.

“Whatever. Just tell me when we are close.”

Keith slumped down against his seat again.

 

This whole sudden “summons to Central Command” business felt kinda fishy, but what could he do? It wasn’t like he had much choice.

But, maybe he would be able to see the others?

It was a small hope.

 

He peeked out of the shuttle’s only window and stared at the stars twinkling far away.

The stars here felt cold.

 

Keith sighed. He wondered what his friends would say if they knew what he knew now.

He knew he had been different, but half alien? Just no way.

The Program had been very informative in that regard.

But he was not sure he enjoyed all the aspects of it.

He had always tried to control his instincts when he lived on Earth, but his short temperedness and tendency to act before thinking had always rendered him in trouble.

In the Program however they treasured it.

He was allowed to show no restraints while training, even while sparring, and while he had felt disgusted in the beginning as he had hurt the other attendees, after a while he had started to find it to feel ...natural.

And then Ilun had become his personal trainer.

She had taught him to fight like a galra, both with weapons and with his body.

She had been very interested in his knife for some reason.

 

Keith drummed his fingers on his seat and hummed a tune of some old Earth song he had heard in his childhood. The galra didn't really have music per se, so he kind of missed it.

It didn’t take long before there was a knock on the door to the cockpit.

“Keetha?”

“Yes, Ilun?”

“Do you remember what I told you about your knife?”

Keith frowned. Ilun had told him weird things about his knife. Things he doubted were true.

“Yeah?”

“It is time to put it to use.”

 

\-----

 

Lance crawled up next to the screen simulating a window into space. It reflected the outside of Central Command, showing the many rings and planets embedded in them, and the many fleets circling it.

The metal was cold and it numbed a bit the feeling of that horrible knot in his stomach.

He wanted to cry, but there was no tears. He pressed his cheek against the glass and closed his eyes, tried to think of something else.

He had caused so much death, so much destruction.

Earth.

His family.

And now his friends.

 

If he hadn’t been such a coward. If he had just found a way to kill Zarkon while he slept. He could have spared millions, no, billions! of people from suffering at the hands of this monster.

 

A noise from the door made him look up. Zarkon had walked in, and Lance looked defiantly back towards the windowscreen.

Zarkon did not leave him alone however and soon enough the Emperor’s large clawed hand brushed against his cheek gently.

“Lance,” Zarkon said but Lance pushed his hand away.

“Go away,” Lance snapped at him. “I hate you!”

Zarkon narrowed his eyes and a split second later he had grabbed a fistful of Lance’s hair and dragged him to a stand even as the young man cried out in pain.

“And you did not hate me before? Is that what you are claiming?” Zarkon said as he dragged Lance after him towards the bed. Lance whimpered and tried to pull himself free from the Emperor’s grasp.

Zarkon pulled Lance on top of the bed before letting go, the many veils that circled the bed was tied up and out of the way for now.

Lance patted his sore scalp and huddled into a tight ball on the mattress.

Zarkon towered above him, and even more so when he let himself loom above him as he bent over Lance’s body, his hands on each side of the cowering man.

“You honestly did not think I would not find out what the two of your were talking about while I was not present?” Zarkon said, his voice cold and menacing.

Lance blinked.

How could he have been so stupid?

He had told Pidge how much he feared Zarkon. How much he disliked the unwanted attention. How much he hated being here.

Of course there had been surveillance.

“I-I didn’t mean it like that!” Lance stammered.

“That is a horrible lie, Lance. And I am getting very tired of your lies.” Zarkon said and grabbed hold of Lance’s hair again, tightening his hold so hard Lance yelped.

“I-I didn’t want to upset you…” Lance sobbed and tried to free himself from Zarkon’s grip.

“By deceiving me.”

“I was scared!” Lance cried out just as Zarkon started to pull his head backwards. “I thought you would kill me!”

Zarkon snorted.

“I would never have hurt you.” Zarkon said and released his grip on the man’s hair. “If you had been honest with me from the beginning.”

Lance looked up in fear at the glowy purple eyes of the Emperor.

“But if there one thing I loathe beyond measure, it is those who lie and deceive,” Zarkon said and Lance cowered at the hateful tone of his voice.

And then sharp claws took hold of his clothes and tore them off his body.

Lance cried out and tried to crawl away and free himself, but Zarkon was faster, stronger, and pinned the smaller body beneath him as he flipped him over on his stomach.

“Please!” Lance sobbed as he desperately tried to avoid Zarkon’s grasp.

Zarkon quickly removed the crotch guard of his armor even as Lance squirmed in panic beneath him.

“I am sure you will hate me even more when this is done.” Zarkon said as he pushed Lance’s legs apart. “So consider this your punishment for your deception.”

And then he thrust forward.

 

Lance screamed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is the last and will take me some time to write.
> 
> When this story is over I will continue with Shiro and Lance's stories in their respective fics.


	22. All Bad Things Must Come to an End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And here we are.

Shiro stood in the hallway of Sendak's quarters. He had awoken only minutes earlier, taken a shower and had dressed before even Sendak had stirred from his sleep and walked out to wait.

His head felt empty, void of any emotion or thought.

But his flesh hand was shaking. And he couldn't make it stop.

“Takashi,” Sendak's voice was soft and filled with empathy. The galran had tossed on a sleeprobe and was fumbling with tying the knot with only one hand.

“Thank you,” Shiro said, not even looking at him. “I know I might have not seemed grateful, but the last three deca-phoebs have been as good as they could have been.”

He didn't bother to wipe the tears away.

“I just regret I didn't realise it sooner.”

Sendak took him in a one-armed hug and held him close. Shiro hugged him back.

“I’m sorry, Takashi. I wish it didn't have to end like this."

Shiro felt bitter from his words. Sendak could stop this, but he did not have the guts to do so. He never had.

The sentries came not longer after and Shiro held out his hands to be cuffed. He quickly found himself in the hall outside the quarters, slowly walking towards his doom.

 

\-----

 

Lance whimpered.

He was still sore after yesterday, and for the first time Zarkon had not healed him with quintessence.

He had never hurt Lance intentionally before.

Lance reached out for the glass of water usually put out for his sake, next to his cushion beside the throne.

But Zarkon moved his foot and very deliberately knocked it over, the liquid inside splashing across the floor.

Lance's heart sank. Zarkon was still mad at him. As if his rough treatment that morning hadn't been enough of an indication. The servants had more or less manhandled him into his clothes - the clothes that were not leaving a lot to ones imagination - and his chain had been shortened substantially. Now it was roughly a fourth of its original length. It barely allowed him any distance from the throne at all. He could stand up and maybe take a step or two, but that was it. And now he couldn't move behind the throne anymore, which he preferred when he was accompanying Zarkon to the arena spectacles.

The noise of the crowd was reaching new heights as two figures, one taller than the other, were moved out into the arena. Lance yelped as Zarkon's metal clad fingers dragged him up by the collar and into his lap roughly.

“I hope you have learned,” Zarkon said and carded his claws through Lance's hair as Lance tried his best to lay still where he was propped up on the Emperor's thighs. “That I will remove anything that comes between us.” Lance startled as Zarkon's gentle brushing turned into a steel grip on his hair.

“Do you understand?”

Lance bit his lip and nodded.

“Good.” Zarkon's grip slackened and returned to the gentle carding of his hair.

“Understand that I only do this to protect you. Only I can give you the protection your weak body requires. You are meant to be by my side.” Zarkon bent down and placed a soft kiss on the top of Lance's head. “I will not let anything hurt you.”

_But you will._ Lance thought and closed his eyes and tried his best to fight back the tears.

 

\-----

 

The sound of the arena was deafening.

Zarkon had claimed there had never been this many spectators to an execution before and that they should feel honored that so many wished to see their demise.

The walk here had reminded her strongly of her first days at Central Command.

The slurs that had been tossed at her as she had followed the sentries had been everything but friendly, and she had tried to ignore them and hold her head high the entire way to the arena.

At the far end of the arena, they had been placed on a platform of sort, with the Lions standing behind them, each with their pilot inside looking down at them.

Except Zarkon.

He was sitting on his throne in his spectator box high up on the side of the arena. Lance was sitting by his feet. And while Pidge could not see his face from here, she knew he was crying.

And she knew Zarkon was forcing him to watch this.

Allura was up there too. In her own chair.

Pidge felt sorry for her too.

Shiro was standing next to Pidge with his eyes closed, his body trembling like a leaf.

Was he scared? Or was this his mind trying to deal with flashbacks from the last time he was here?

Pidge could only speculate, because she didn’t dare ask.

But she was wondering why it was only the two of them them down there.

Where was Keith and Hunk?

Hadn’t Zarkon said they would be here too?

Not that she wanted them to.

Rover II hovered around them without a care in the world.

An officer ran up to the Emperor and whispered something in his ear.

Whatever it was it was not good news, for Zarkon slammed his fist down onto the armrest of the throne so hard that Lance startled.

Something was wrong.

Something was wrong for Zarkon.

That meant good for them.

Anything that would delay the inevitable.

But instead of delay, Zarkon rose to a stand, walking to the edge of the arena.

“Citizens of the Empire.” His dark voice boomed across the room. “Three deca-phoebs has passed since the fall of Voltron and its false Paladins. Today marks the day of the rise of the true Paladins of Voltron, that will serve their Empire faithfully for millennia to come, while their predecessors meets their timely deaths.”

Shiro's breathing hitched and Pidge wanted nothing more than to stretch out and touch him, but the cuffs securing her wrists were in the way.

“I grant you a quick death, dealt by the very machines you defiled in your short reign as paladins.”

_What? NO!_

He could not be serious!

To have Green deal the killing blow? That was beyond cruel.

Pidge turned towards the Lions only to see them open their massive jaws and the lasers charging.

At least it would be quick.

 

The high whine of the lasers filled her ears and then the shrill noise of Blue’s ice beam.

Wait a tick.

Ice beam?

Pidge startled as the large laser beam of Red missed her by a good meter, Rover II beeping in distress, the stench of ozone reaching her nostrils as the material the floor was made of evaporated.

Blue's ice beam hit Red, then Green and in the end Yellow. Red and Green got their maws frozen shut and Yellow tried to dodge but got their front paws frozen, effectively sticking them to the platform.

Blue fired again and this time froze Red and Green’s legs to the floor as well.

And then before anyone could react Blue turned to the Emperor and fired yet again, encasing most of the throne in a solid block of ice, including the Emperor. Lance barely managed to throw himself away in time, the little distance the shortened leash would allow him.

The arena broke into chaos as one half of the spectators brought out their weapons and started firing while the other half ran for their lives in fear of the rampant giant robot lion.

Then Blue bent its head towards Shiro and Pidge and opened its jaws.

“Get in!” The voice of the pilot boomed over speakers.

Thace was on their side!

Pidge grabbed Shiro’s arm and pulled the stunned man with her into the metal maw of the Blue Lion.

“I will fly you over to the Blue Paladin and the Princess. You must free them while I hold off the attackers!” Thace yelled over the speakers as the Blue Lion took to the air and hovered over to the throne where Lance was hard at work trying to free himself from the chain. But the metal was too strong.

They jumped out of the maw and ran up to Lance who was struggling in vain to break free, while Thace turned the Blue Lion towards the rest of the arena and it's angry spectators.

Shiro lighted up his arm and managed to break through his bonds and quickly cut through Pidge's cuffs before grabbing the purple iridescent chain with full intention of melting through the metal.

But it didn't work.

The metal showed no signs of growing weaker even when Shiro focused all his might and the light of the quintessence became so bright Pidge had to cover her eyes.

“I don't believe this!” Shiro groaned and shook the chain in his fist.

“Let me, Shiro.” The voice behind them was familiar, and it made them turn their heads to the source.

“Keith!” they cried in unison at the sight of their friend, mullet and all, albeit a bit longer than it used to.

“W-where did you come from?” Shiro seemed flabbergasted by seeing his old friend.

“I’ll explain later, we need to get you guys out of here.” Keith moved past them and pulled out a sleek dark blue and light sword. He sliced through the chain like it was butter to the astonishment of everyone around him.

“Shiro, let me get your collar,” Keith said next and Shiro bent down to let him carefully slice through his collar.

The sword sliced through just as easily as the chain and the collar dropped to the floor with a clank.

“Pidge, you next,” Pidge did as he said and for the first time in years her neck was free from the burden. She rubbed the skin carefully, feeling the rough skin between her fingers.

“We can take yours later, Lance. It doesn't have a stunning chip.” Keith said next and while Lance opened his mouth he quickly shut it to nod firmly instead.

Shiro climbed over some of the large blocks of ice that surrounded Zarkon's throne and grabbed Allura, who had fainted again. She looked sicker than ever.

And then the ice starting creaking.

“Oh shit!” Lance cursed as Shiro just barely avoided getting crushed by a larger chunk of ice broke loose from the frozen throne.

The loud growl that emanated from the severely pissed off Zarkon was alarm enough to get out of there.

The ice shattered around the Emperor, partly releasing the trapped galran.

“Lance,” Zarkon said and beckoned with his freed hand. “Come here.”

“...no.” Lance said and took a trembling step backwards.

“My love, my little ocean, listen to what I say.” His voice was dark and rumbling, anger boiling beneath.

“I-I don't have to listen to you anymore,” Lance stammered, taking a step backwards. The others braced themselves for a potential attack.

“Is it because of them that you forsake me, Lance? My beautiful boy, do not believe their lies.”

Lance shook his head as to ignore his words.

“You do not need them. Remember, I am your family now.”

“You were never my family!” Lance screamed back at him. “You destroyed everything I ever cared about! You hurt me! Even though you promised you never would! I HATE YOU!”

A shadow passed over Zarkon's face and his eyes narrowed to thin magenta slits.

“If you go with them I will make sure to destroy you. If you drop to your knees and beg me for forgiveness right NOW I might allow you to live,” Zarkon growled.

“I RATHER DIE!” Lance screamed back at him and picked up a large chunk of ice and tossed it at his head. It shattered against his crown but did no harm, and Zarkon narrowed his eyes dangerously as Lance picked up another chunk.

“As much as I would love see you taunt the pissed off emperor, we really need to get out of here!” The voice made them all turn their heads.

Grizzled and with torn clothes and a very large galra gun in his arms, Hunk stood before them. “Now come on.”

Lance’s face lit up and he dropped the ice in favor of rushing past to hug his old friend.

“Hey, there buddy.” Hunk gave him a one armed hug.

“Here, Lance.” Hunk held out a smaller gun and handed it to his friend. Lance grabbed it and let the weight of the gun find its place in his hands.

“I’m a little rusty,” he said with a small laugh. Hunk gave him a small smile.

“As long as you can point and shoot then I don’t care.”

“Now let’s get out of here,” Keith said and pointed to the large doors behind Zarkon’s throne. “If we don’t hurry this place will be swarming with sentries in no time.”

They were interrupted by the Blue Lion flying low over their location, drawing fire from many of the galra still in the arena.

“He is gonna need help getting out of here,” Lance said with worry in his voice.

“Me and Hunk will get our Lions back and help Thace, you get Allura to the Castle of Lions. It’s in the main hangar!” Keith hollered over his shoulder as he and Hunk ran to the edge of the arena. Shiro got a better grip around Allura’s fainted form and headed for the door.

“You should go with them, Pidge,” Lance said.

“No, Green no longer recognises me as hers,” she said solemn and walked after Shiro. Lance seemed surprised, but didn’t object.

“Green Paladin!” Zarkon suddenly bellowed. “You should know that your father is still in my care and if you leave now I will personally make sure to snuff out his pathetic existence!”

It made Pidge stop dead in her tracks.

“Like you planned to keep him alive in the first place,” Pidge replied cold. “Let’s go.” And they rushed down the hall.

 

\-----

 

It was not FAIR!

Haxus cursed and took another swig of the bottle as he made his way down the hall.

He could hear the ruckus from the arena even here.

Katie probably laid in a pool of her own blood now, gashes in her body that could not be easily closed.

Just like that time in the bathtub…

The sight of it flashed before his eyes and he scrunched them shut.

Painful memories…

Why? Why did she have to end this way?

Not fair!

Little Katie.

Kind Katie.

Clever Katie.

…

It was his fault.

He could have gone against the Emperor.

No, he couldn't.

It would be suicide.

And it might have done nothing more than hasten Katie’s demise.

 

He took another take at the bottle, downing the remains in a few gulps.

 

The door further up the hall slammed open and through it came three figures, one of them carrying a fourth.

…

Was that the Champion?

And the Emperor's pet??

And Katie?!!!

…

Hah!

REDEMPTION!

 

\-----

 

Pidge halted when she saw Haxus standing in front of them.

He looked drunk, if the bottle in his hand was not an indicator enough.

“Haxus…” she mumbled to the others.

“Can we defeat him? We don't have much time to reach the hangar. Do we even know where we are going?” Lance mumbled back, pointing his gun at the galra.

“The hangar is that way.” Haxus mumbled. Pidge looked at Haxus confused. His voice had been slurred, but she had heard what he said loud and clear.

“The fastest way is through the door over there.” He continued and pointed his hand towards a rather small door.

“It's through maintenance, but you avoid the crowded areas and you will meet next to no one,” he said and couldn't stop the small hiccup that followed. “I can show you the fastest route.”

“...why are you helping us?” Lance asked and did not move his gun in case Haxus was up to something.

“Katie does not deserve to die. Not like this…” His eyes were sad.

Pidge stared at him.

She wasn't exactly feeling pity, but there was something that told her Haxus was telling the truth.

“Haxus never lied to me,” Pidge said to the others. “If he says this is the fastest way, then that is the truth.”

“Liars are scum,” Haxus growled and took a swig of the bottle only to realise it was empty.

“Okay, we should get going then.” Lance said relieved and walked past Haxus, Shiro followed.

Pidge started to move, only for Haxus to grab her arm. The grip wasn't painful, but it was firm.

“Katie… I am so sorry. So sorry for all the things I did to you.”

Pidge tried to wrench her arm out of his grip but he held on tight.

“I know you can't forgive me, but I just want you to know that. I’m so sorry.”

Was...was he crying?

It was hard to tell with glow of quintessence muddling his eyes.

He let go of her and she almost sprinted away from him, her heart racing in her chest.

She didn't know how to feel about Haxus, but he had seemed so genuinely sad. He had changed a lot the last few months, to the better too. And now he helped them escape?

It felt unreal.

 

Lance held the door for her and they ran down the narrow hallway, the sides covered in pipes and wires. For once their smaller size was as advantage. It was harder for Haxus to hold a steady pace.

“Down there,” Haxus said and pointed to a narrow offshoot. It seemed to lead away from the arena so this far he seemed to tell the truth.

“Now this way.”

They followed him through the labyrinth of pathways and crossroads. They could hear distant explosions and the lights flickered on and off in random intervals. Someone was attacking Central Command at full force, pulling the attention away from them.

“It should be out here,” Haxus said finally and pried open a door.

And lo and behold, they stood in the main hangar, the Castle of Lions shining like a beacon amidst the dark purple environment.

Pidge smiled. They were free now.

 

“TAKASHI!”

Shiro stopped in his tracks so fast Lance slammed into him. And when he turned Pidge could see that he had this sad exhausted look on his face. He had barely said a word since Keith had shown up. He was expecting this to happen.

“Took you long enough,” Shiro said cold and turned to the owner of the voice.

“I am sorry, Takashi. I cannot allow you to leave.” Sendak was standing a bit to their side. It seemed he had expected them to come this way. He did not look happy, but it wasn’t anger either.

“So you will capture us?” Shiro asked, but Pidge had a feeling Shiro knew what the answer would be.

Sendak shook his head, a solemn expression on his face. His usual frown was accompanied by sad eyes.

“No, the Emperor gave strict orders in case you would escape.”

“For once in your life, could you think on your own?” Shiro snapped. He sounded annoyed, like this was a common thing with Sendak.

Sendak took a deep breath.

“I cannot go against the direct orders of the Emperor. It would be suicide.” Sendak moved his body into position, giant metal claws at the ready. “But I can assure you I will do this as painless as I am able. Haxus, to my side.”

 

\-----

 

Haxus had been anything but sober moments ago, but now a sense of clarity coursed through him.

“Haxus?” Katie’s voice was worried.

He walked up to Sendak, and could feel Katie’s shocked look burn holes in the back of his head. She must feel betrayed.

Standing behind Sendak, the commander gave a confirming grunt to his old lieutenant, apparently pleased with his position, and started to move slowly towards the humans.

As silently as possible Haxus pulled out his shockrod from his thigh armor compartment and extended it to full length.

Of all the people in the Empire only he knew Sendak's strengths and weaknesses as good as the commander himself. It made it easy to point his rod, turn the power to max and strike with all his might to the weakened point between Sendak's armor plating.

Sendak howled, more in surprise than anything else, and he slammed to his knees as his legs buckled beneath him from the electricity coursing through him.

“Haxus! What are you doing?!” he growled, his voice filled with surprise more than anger.

“I will not allow you to harm her,” Haxus replied and and took a choke hold on Sendak from behind, pushing him towards the floor with the weight of his body. With a swift precise kick to one of the seams on the shoulder anchor for Sendak's prosthetic, he loosened the connection to the quintessence beam, making it flicker in and out of control. Another weakness easily abused. If only his enemies had known how easy it was to render Sendak useless.

“Haxus! Get off me this instant!” Sendak snarled and wriggled in Haxus’ grip. The commander was almost twice his size, but with only one working arm, now pressed down into the floor by Haxus’ knee, Sendak was not able to get back up.

“Katie! Run! Get out of here!” Haxus snapped towards the girl.

 

\-----

 

Pidge had stared at the scene unfolding in front of them in confusion. For a second she was sure Haxus had betrayed them, but then he had pulled out his rod and actually zapped Sendak! She couldn't believe it!

Now the two of them were wriggling on the ground, with Haxus on top keeping Sendak in a tight grip.

And then Haxus told her to run.

That knocked her out of her surprise and she moved her legs again, taking a few steps forward. It seemed to wake up Shiro and Lance too and they followed her albeit a bit hesitantly.

She couldn't stop herself from looking back at Haxus and it felt wrong leaving without saying anything. But what to say?

“Haxus!” she yelled. “Thank you!”

And then she ran down the hall after her friends.

 

\-----

 

Haxus stared after Katie as she ran towards the ship.

Her words had left a warm spot in his chest that grew in strength, one that was not distinguished by Sendak's next words.

“Haxus, you are a fool!” Sendak growled.

“She deserves to be free,” Haxus said, more to himself than to Sendak.

“The Emperor will have your head!”

“I don’t care.”

Sendak sighed.

“Let me go, Haxus.”

“No, you will kill her. You will kill her friends, your own mate.”

“This is not an option!”

“It is. It is a choice.”

He had made his choice.

 

\-----

 

The moment the Paladins had entered the Castle, Pidge had done her best to lock the doors as the others had scrambled their way to the bridge.

She stormed into the bridge moments later only to find Shiro and Lance hovering over Allura’s still form.

“Why are we not leaving?”

“Allura is not waking up,” Lance said. “Without her, we can’t fly.”

Pidge raced over to Allura. Her skin was cold and her breathing shallow. The markings on her face almost completely faded.

“Lance, tell me, how did you get those markings?” Pidge asked.

“These?” He pointed at his face. Pidge nodded.

“They appeared after I got quintessence treatments. Zarkon always made me touch these orbs right after. Sometimes they glowed as if they reacted to me. One time he made me stand by these pillar things not so different from the ones Allura use.”

“Do you know where that quintessence came from?” Pidge asked. Lance looked at her and then at Allura. His eyes blew wide and he stared at the Princess.

“Are you saying Zarkon took Allura’s quintessence?” Lance’s hands shook. “And gave it to me?”

“It’s a possibility,” Pidge said and tried to scour her brain for anything that could help.

“Lance. How did Zarkon find Earth?” It was a long shot but she couldn’t imagine any other reason for Zarkon to pump Lance full of another person’s quintessence.

Color drained from Lance’s face.

“Zarkon made me stand by the pillars and think of Earth. He said it was the only way we could find it.” Lance dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around himself.

“He promised me I could meet my family if I did. And I-I did.” Fat tears ran down his face. “And… and then he killed my mom, and everyone else.”

Pidge stared at him in shock. Lance had not told anyone what happened before Earth was destroyed, but now she understood. Lance was there, and some would even blame him for its destruction.

Shiro huddled forward and hugged him.

“I am so sorry, Lance,” Pidge said and lowered her gaze. She couldn’t see him in the eyes.

“I know I will be asking much, but do you think you could try and use the pillars of the Castle?”

“W-why?” Lance replied through a series of sobs.

“You might have absorbed Allura’s abilities as well.”

“W-what? Are you serious?”

“Pidge, I am not sure if this is good idea,” Shiro said.

“Okay guys, look, Allura isn’t waking up. The only reason we are not being brutally murdered right now is due to my _owner_ keeping _your_ bloodthirsty _mate_ busy, and we do not know how long that will last. If we do not do anything quick, we are dead.”

They looked at each other until Lance stood up, and with a last long stare at Allura, Lance walked towards the pillars in the center of the pedestal.

His hands were still shaking as he placed them on the pillars, the orbs lighting up as his frail fingers touched them.

He scrunched his eyes shut and moments later the bridge lit up, the Castle activated.

“That...that was a lot easier than I thought it would be,” Lance said with a nervous laugh. Pidge smiled at him.

“Look at the sharpshooter turned shipmaster,” she said and Lance grinned back at her.

He turned to the giant screens looking out at the hangar.

“Let’s get out of here then!”

 

\-----

 

The power surged through the Castle and Haxus watched in awe as the ship made its way to the bay doors. The force field would allow it to exit without needing to went the air in the hangar.

“They made it,” he said and released his grip on Sendak’s throat.

The moment he let go, Sendak bucked and tossed Haxus off his back.

“You traitor!” Sendak snarled and caught Haxus throat with his flesh hand.

“Give me one reason not to kill you right here, right now!” Sendak growled and held his old friend in a crushing grip.

“I just saved your mate,” Haxus wheezed out.

It made Sendak still.

Haxus might have done this for the girl, but he had inadvertently saved Takashi as well. His mate and his friends were alive and Haxus would be the one to pay the price for it.

Not Sendak.

Sendak had not have to kill his mate, but he would lose his best friend instead.

He was not sure if the trade had been equal.

 

\-----

 

Outside Central Command a war raged.

Empire ships and other ships were in full conflict. Explosions happened everywhere and Lance tried his best to maneuver the Castle safely away as Shiro made his way to the healing pods with Allura.

Pidge spotted the Red Lion zooming around destroying ship after ship, while the Yellow and Blue lions were hauling the Green and Black Lions towards the Castle.

Pidge was happy seeing Green was in one piece, she just hoped there was no one inside.

With all the lions safely inside Hunk and Keith made their way to the bridge, followed by Thace and a group Pidge would quickly learn had orchestrated their escape.

The Blade of Marmora had infiltrated the Empire and when Zarkon had announced the execution they had seen no other option than to launch an attack. Voltron and its Paladins were more important than the lives of the many Blades and rebels and the very well placed spy that Thace was.

It was all so much to absorb and Pidge could feel the exhaustion seep into her very bones.

The Castle was supposed to meet up at a rendezvous point and then it would be decided what was to happen. Until then they could rest.

Keith and Shiro had walked off somewhere, Thace had found a room to have a meeting with the Blades in, and Hunk had headed to the kitchen to see if there was anything still edible aboard.

Pidge leant against her chair. She was so tired, but it didn't feel like they could rest yet.

The Castle of Lions floated silently through space and it was nearly as silent inside.

She let go of a deep breath. Rover II silently hovered in her lap.

They were alive.

They were free.

And now all she wanted was to sleep.

She barely noticed it when Lance draped a blanket over her and sat down next to her.

She didn’t mind when he leant against her, letting her rest her head on his shoulder.

She let go of a smile and let sleep overtake her.

 

\-----

 

“Commander Haxus. You directly aided the Paladins of Voltron in their escape. And with them the Voltron Lions and the Castle of Lions.”

“This is UNACCEPTABLE!.” The rumble of the Emperor’s voice was almost deafening in his ears. The Emperor was greatly displeased, justifiably so, and he let it show through how his armored claws digged themselves into the armrests of his throne as his eyes narrowed to thin slits of bright magenta.

“Sendak.” Sendak turned towards the Emperor and saluted.

“Dispose of him.” Emperor Zarkon almost growled the order.

Sendak held his composure well, knowing that this was coming, but it still hurt to hear it.

Haxus had been a fool. He had allowed this to happen and he now had to suffer for it.

But he could not say it didn't pain him to do this. To kill his old friend and faithful comrade.

And Haxus looked miserable, exhausted and most of all sad, but with a small smile on his lips. But for what he wasn't sure and he would never know.

The Empire came first and the Emperor’s word was law.

He raised his galratech arm towards his friend.

He tried to make it quick.

\-----

When the large metal claws encroached his body Haxus knew what was coming. He felt solemn, but also relieved that it was his best friend that would do it. He was grateful for the mercy shown to him, not caring if he deserved it or not.

He felt the grip of the mechanical digits tighten, the crushing force overwhelming.

He closed his eyes and thought of his sisters.

And then nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was difficult for me to write this chapter, as I had so many ways to end it, but I feel this best represents the ending I want.
> 
> There will be several small epilogues telling the aftereffects of the paladins life in captivity, and I hope to have them ready soon.
> 
> Thank you all for reading my severely fucked up story.


End file.
